PIETER UYS, VODACOM GROUP CEO commented:

“This has been a period of substantial development for Vodacom during which we achieved continued growth, with a robust performance from our South African operations in particular. We faced a number of headwinds, primarily in our international operations that were hard-hit by weak economic conditions and a resulting scramble for market share by the major operators.

Gateway, which is a core part of our African expansion strategy, was also heavily impacted by the weaker economic conditions. We impaired this asset in response to reduced mobile traffic on the continent and strong pricing pressure and have subsequently taken steps to improve its profitability.

Our focus on managing operating and capital expenditure resulted in strong growth in operating free cash flow, supporting an interim dividend of 110 cents per share. We were also successful in extracting benefits from the closer relationship with Vodafone in areas such as purchasing and product innovation.

Our strategic drive towards total communications is progressing well, with particular success in broadband with a substantial increase in customers and mobile data revenue. Vodacom Business is gaining momentum and we are becoming a meaningful provider of enterprise services across Africa.”