Vodacom Group reviewed annual results and cash dividend distribution for the year ended 31 March 2026

Highlights:

• Serve a combined 237.3 million customers, up 12.3%, and 103.0 million financial services customers, including Safaricom on a 100% basis.
• Delivered ahead of our EBITDA medium-term target, with a double-digit outlook confirmed.
• Revenue of R167.7 billion, up 10.1% (12.2%*).
• Financial services revenue increased 19.6% (23.1%*) to R16.8 billion contributing 12.6% to Group service revenue.
• Service revenue grew 10.6% in rands and increased 12.9% on a normalised basis*.
• EBITDA grew 12.8% to R62.6 billion, and 14.2% on a normalised basis*.
• HEPS of 1 053cps was up 22.9%.
• Final dividend of 405cps up 20.9%. Total dividend at 735cps up 18.5%.

Shameel Joosub, Vodacom Group CEO commented:

“We have delivered a strong start to our Vision 2030 strategy. This was a year that reflected both continuity and acceleration: staying true to the strengths that have served us well, while confidently stepping into the next phase of our growth journey. With headline earnings and free cash each growing by more than 20%, the benefits of our revenue and geographic diversification are apparent, even amid a complex and dynamic macroeconomic environment. Pleasingly, our strong commercial momentum has positioned us to upgrade our Vision 2030 customer aspirations and confirm our medium-term targets. Throughout FY2026 and our Vision 2030 strategy, our purpose – connecting people for a better future – remains a decisive driver of strategy and execution, shaping how we invest, scale and deliver sustainable impact across our markets.

We made tangible progress on delivering on our strategy in the year, marked by two milestone transactions that strengthen our long-term growth profile and accelerates inclusive connectivity across our footprint. In December, we announced an agreement to acquire an additional 20% stake in Safaricom. This transformational transaction reinforces our commitment to the high growth East African markets of Kenya and Ethiopia. The closing of this transaction is subject to an ongoing court process in Kenya.

Separately, in December, we finalised the acquisition of a strategic stake in Maziv, a South African fibre business, unlocking the opportunity to accelerate fibre deployment and expand access to high quality connectivity, particularly in historically underserved communities. Delivering sustainable shareholder value beyond these transactions is critically important to us. In the year, we expanded return on capital employed (ROCE) to 27.5% (FY25: 23.5%) and grew the dividend by 18.5%.

In FY2026, we added 26.0 million customers across the Group, more than double our annual Vision 2030 target of 10 million customers, taking our total customer base to 237.3 million across eight markets. This scale is driving greater connectivity, productivity and financial inclusion, and underpins our decision to increase our Vision 2030 customer ambition to 275 million, reflecting confidence that the growth opportunity remains far from fully realised.

Group service revenue grew by 10.6% to R133.6 billion, or 12.9%* on a normalised basis, tracking comfortably ahead of our double-digit medium‑term target. This result was supported by strong performances in Egypt, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Lesotho, alongside resilience in South Africa and Mozambique. Group EBITDA increased by 12.8% to R62.6 billion, representing 14.2% normalised growth, with EBITDA margins expanding to 37.4%.

Our diversified portfolio continues to demonstrate resilience across geographies. Egypt delivered an impressive performance, with local‑currency service revenue and EBITDA growth of 36.2% and 44.5% respectively, and a contribution of 29.7% to Group EBITDA. The International business delivered service revenue growth of 14.4% on a normalised basis, with double‑digit local‑currency growth across Tanzania, DRC and Lesotho. International business EBITDA was up an impressive 27.8% in rands. South Africa delivered a stable performance, with service revenue growth of 2.1%, supported by an improving prepaid trend in the fourth quarter, strong data demand and continued growth in beyond mobile services. South Africa EBITDA returned to growth in the second half of the financial year, having been impacted by a one-off settlement agreement in the first half of the financial year.

Safaricom, an associate of the Group, delivered an excellent performance with shilling service revenue growth of 11.5%, EBITDA growth of 27.9%, and net income up 37.0%. Safaricom contributed R4.6 billion to Group operating profit, an increase of 38.3%. This result was underpinned by sustained operational excellence in Kenya and improving scale in Ethiopia. We were encouraged by Ethiopia’s performance, with customer growth of 54.2% to 13.6 million and losses narrowing as the business continues to scale.

The strong results from Egypt, our International business and Safaricom translated into strong earnings growth, with headline earnings per share increasing by 22.9% to 1 053 cents. Consistent with our dividend policy of paying out at least 75% of headline earnings, the Board has declared a final dividend of 405 cents per share, up 20.9%, bringing the total dividend for the year to 735 cents per share, up 18.5%.

Financial services remains a core pillar of our growth strategy and a powerful engine for inclusion. Financial services customers increased by 17.4% to 103.0 million, including Safaricom, supported by growth across payments, insurance, savings, lending and merchant services. Reflecting the strength of this momentum and the scale of opportunity ahead we have upgraded our Vision 2030 ambition for financial services customers to 130 million, from 120 million previously. Meanwhile, our leadership in African Fintech remains evident by the scale of transaction value we process, which reached US$525.6 billion in the year, up 16.6%.

Beyond mobile services, which include financial services, fixed, digital and IoT, generated R29.8 billion, contributing 22.3% of Group service revenue and demonstrating steady progress towards our ambition of approaching 30% by 2030. The two milestone transactions, Safaricom and Maziv, are expected to materially enhance the Group’s beyond mobile positioning. The Group’s fibre footprint will extend to 3.6 million homes passed, strengthening our connectivity leadership and long‑term growth potential, when the Safaricom transaction completes.

Our investment in technology and our network remains central to supporting growth, having invested R23.6 billion in capital expenditure for FY2026. Across the Group, including Safaricom, we rolled out 3 041 new 4G and 6 160 new 5G sites. These investments support rising data demand, enhance network and customer experience, and enable scalable digital inclusion. We added 18.8 million smartphones during the year, lifting smartphone penetration across the Group to 68.6%, supported by continued progress in handset affordability innovations. Across many of our markets, the challenge is increasingly one of device access rather than coverage, and we remain focused on addressing this responsibly.

Our purpose‑led business model continues to remain central to how we grow, with a particular focus on advancing gender inclusion across our value chain. Through initiatives such as m‑mama, programmes addressing gender‑based violence, Code Like a Girl, Je Suis Cap in the DRC, where we are training disabled women to become mobile money agents, as well as our Female Leadership programme and inclusive procurement initiatives, we are using technology to expand access to opportunities. In Tanzania our savings product, M-Koba, is scaling rapidly with 60% of deposits transacted by woman members, while in rural Egypt we are training one million women to establish and run their own digital businesses. Alongside this impact, we remain firmly focused on maintaining trust, strengthening cyber security, and embedding strong AI governance to ensure that innovation is deployed responsibly as digital adoption accelerates.

Looking ahead, from a macroeconomic perspective, uncertainty is expected to persist; however, the fundamentals of the Group remain strong, as do our risk management processes. The Group’s resilience through a challenging macroeconomic period between FY2022 and FY2025 bears testament to these qualities. As energy costs continue to rise and diesel supply remains uncertain, we have mitigation measures in place and are actively managing these risks to minimise any potential disruptions.

From a portfolio perspective, the completion of the Safaricom transaction and subsequent consolidation would represent a step‑change in Vodacom’s scale, diversification, and growth profile. We are excited by this opportunity and, when the transaction completes, we intend to update our Vision 2030 ambitions to reflect the enhanced portfolio. Our focus remains on disciplined execution to strengthen returns, while continuing to work constructively with governments and partners to support healthy operating environments and expand access to connectivity and digital services.”