Kenyan executive Peter Ndegwa has steered Safaricom Plc to record financial heights, as post-tax profit jumped 72.5 percent to Ksh50.35 billion ($387.61 million) for the six months ended Sept. 30, 2026. The half-year haul, up from Ksh29.19 billion ($224.71 million) a year earlier, reflected resilient domestic demand and dramatically reduced losses in Ethiopia.

Double-digit revenue growth across domestic connectivity and fintech operations underpinned the earnings rebound. The regional carrier posted a net profit attributable to equity holders of Ksh58.15 billion ($447.67 million), up from Ksh42.78 billion ($329.33 million) in 2025. Pretax profit rose 47.2 percent to Ksh81.33 billion ($626.06 million), according to financial filings.

Safaricom drives core gains

EBITDA rose 27.5 percent to Ksh129.18 billion ($994.48 million) from Ksh101.29 billion ($779.73 million). Operating profit surged 39.8 percent to Ksh91.14 billion ($701.62 million), lifting operating margins to 39 percent. Total revenue rose 14.2 percent to Ksh233.68 billion ($1.799 billion), outstripping direct operating cost growth of 13.3 percent.

Ndegwa, 57, who took charge of the telecom giant in April 2020, capitalized on robust data consumption to outrun regional cost inflation. Service revenue expanded 13.1 percent to Ksh226.06 billion ($1.74 billion). Mobile money juggernaut M-PESA delivered Ksh100.08 billion ($770.44 million), accounting for more than 44 percent of total group service turnover.

Fintech and data surge

Connectivity revenue rose 11.5 percent to Ksh113.6 billion ($874.51 million), propelled by mobile data sales, which climbed 19.5 percent to Ksh53.09 billion. Fixed service and enterprise IoT solutions rose 25.4 percent to Ksh12.38 billion ($95.32 million). The domestic core remained the main cash engine, lifting Kenyan service receipts 11.3 percent to Ksh215.96 billion.

Across the border, the group’s high-stakes bet on the Ethiopian market began yielding structural improvements. Service revenue in Ethiopia spiked 71.6 percent to Ksh10.62 billion ($81.72 million), helped by a 90.2 percent jump in data traffic. Crucially, the unit slashed its operating losses by more than half to Ksh11.35 billion ($87.4 million).

Ethiopian drag fades rapidly

Ethiopia’s EBITDA loss compressed 96.5 percent to Ksh434.4 million from Ksh12.56 billion, closing an earnings drain that had weighed on investor sentiment. Meanwhile, groupwide active customer numbers advanced 22.3 percent year on year to 78.9 million on a three-month basis, while monthly active users reached 52.81 million across East Africa’s largest economy.

Total assets expanded to Ksh573.8 billion ($4.417 billion) as of Sept. 30, up from Ksh518.05 billion ($3.988 billion) at the end of March 2026. Retained earnings rose to Ksh224.06 billion ($1.725 billion), lifting total shareholder equity to Ksh236.32 billion ($1.819 billion) while operating cash generation swelled to Ksh91.92 billion ($707.64 million).