Revenue from M-Pesa, Safaricom’s mobile money platform, reached 100.1 billion Kenyan shillings in the six months ended 30 September 2026, up 13.6% from a year earlier. The Kenyan operator said on Thursday, 5 November, that this was the first time the business had crossed the 100 billion-shilling threshold in a half-year period.
The milestone came as group service revenue rose 13.1% to 226.1 billion shillings. Safaricom reported a 35.9% increase in net income to 58.2 billion shillings, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) climbed 27.5% to 129.2 billion.
In Kenya, Safaricom’s largest market, service revenue grew 11.3% to 216 billion shillings. Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) reached 101.8 billion shillings, exceeding 100 billion over six months for the first time. The company said 53% of transactions across its payment services remained free during the period.
Ethiopia narrows operating losses
In Ethiopia, where Safaricom has been building its network since 2022, service revenue jumped 71.6% to 10.6 billion shillings. The operator reported 15.4 million customers active over three months, up 38.4%, and an EBITDA loss that narrowed 96.5% to 434.4 million shillings.
That improvement fed into the group’s consolidated performance, although the Ethiopian business still recorded an EBIT loss of 11.4 billion shillings, compared with 24.3 billion a year earlier, according to Reuters. Ethiopia accounted for 17% of the increase in group service revenue during the half-year.
Safaricom maintained its full-year EBIT guidance of 180 billion to 187 billion shillings. Management is targeting EBITDA break-even in Ethiopia by the end of its financial year in March 2027.