By Joe Hoppe


Vodacom Group Ltd. on Monday reported a decline in first-half net profit and operating profit despite a rise in revenue, hit by inflation, higher costs and start-up losses.

The South Africa-based telecommunications company posted net profit of 8.07 billion rand ($468.1 million) for the six months ended Sept. 30, compared with ZAR8.87 billion a year earlier.

Revenue rose 7.7% to ZAR53.71 billion. Service revenue--a closely watched metric in the telecom sector--increased 7.2%, or 3.9% on a normalized basis, to ZAR41.73 billion.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization rose 0.6% to ZAR20.20 billion, hit by one-off factors and higher energy and network costs.

Operating profit for the period fell to ZAR13.27 billion from ZAR14.06 billion, and headline earnings per share declined 9.5% to ZAR4.57, hit by start-up losses in Ethiopia and higher finance costs, as interest rates normalized.

The board declared an interim dividend of ZAR3.40, down from ZAR4.20.

"Looking ahead, we expect that the Vodafone Egypt acquisition and Community Investment Ventures Holdings (Proprietary) Ltd. joint venture will enhance our system of advantage and provide scope to accelerate the growth profile of the Vodacom Group," the company said.


Write to Joe Hoppe at joseph.hoppe@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

11-14-22 0114ET