Shares in Vodacom advanced more than 2% in afternoon trade on the JSE, dragging rival MTN along with it as investors took a favourable view to the formers trading update for the quarter ended June 2012, announced on Thursday (19 July).<\/p>\n
By 15:00, shares in Vodacom gained R1.87, or 2.08%, to R91.91 on the JSE, while MTN picked upR3.00 or 2.06% to R148.50. Telkom, meanwhile, was unchanged at R18.00.<\/p>\n
The All Share Index added 0.65% to 34,256.<\/p>\n
Vodacom reported a 29.2% rise in customers in a trading statement for the quarter ended June 2012,\u00a0hitting the 50 million mark.<\/p>\n
Group revenue improved\u00a09.3% to R17.02 billion, from R15.57 billion in 2011, but only up 0.9% on a quarterly basis. South African revenue was up 3.5% to R14 billion, and\u00a0International revenue advanced as much as 46.2% to R3.097 billion year on year.<\/p>\n
Group service revenue growth was up 8.7% to R14.74 billion.\u00a0South Africa\u2019s service revenue grew 1.8% to R11.769 billion. Excluding the impact of the cuts in MTRs service revenue growth was 4.6%, a 0.6 percentage point deterioration compared to the growth rate experienced in the previous quarter. This reflects the slowdown in data revenue growth, Vodacom said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOverall this was a good quarter with a particularly strong performance from our International operations supporting group service\u00a0revenue growth of 8.7%. The connectivity revolution is well underway with close to 16 million customers actively using data, up 43% from the prior year,\u201d said CEO Pieter Uys.<\/p>\n
A dealer at PSG Konsult said that investors were pleased with Vodacom\u2019s results.<\/p>\n
\u201cVodacom\u2019s share has taken a bit of a knock in recent sessions (slipping from R98.50 on 10 July), and these results appear to have sparked some buying in the market.\u201d He said that both MTN and Vodacom offered attractive returns for investors, while Telkom remains a less attractive option in the sector.<\/p>\n
Related articles<\/strong><\/p>\n Vodacom hits 50 million customers<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Vodacom shares off amid Cell C battle<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Best tech shares in SA<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Good value Vodacom not without challenges<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n