Ethio Telecom Reports Strong Financial Performance in H1 2024

Ethio Telecom has shown significant growth in the first half of the 2024 fiscal year, with notable financial results and investments in infrastructure and service expansion. The company generated ETB 61.9 billion in revenue, achieving 90.7% of its target. Revenue from international services totaled ETB 64.4 million, while mobile data usage increased by 48.8% to 642.2 billion MB, and mobile voice usage grew by 12.7% to 83.6 billion minutes. The telebirr platform registered 5 million new users, bringing the total to 51.5 million. It facilitated ETB 1.03 trillion in electronic money transactions during the period, contributing to a cumulative total of ETB 3.58 trillion since its launch.

In addition to revenue growth, Ethio Telecom generated USD 72.6 million in foreign exchange earnings, with USD 67.36 million from international services and USD 5.24 million from telebirr’s international remittance services. The company reported an EBITDA profit of ETB 32.82 billion, reflecting a profitability margin of 55.6%. Ethio Telecom paid ETB 23.74 billion in taxes and repaid USD 15.4 million in foreign loans.

Cost optimization was a key focus, with the DO2SAVE strategy achieving savings of ETB 3.5 billion, exceeding its target by 44%. Ethio Telecom reported thwarting 266,162 attempted cyber-attacks through its advanced security measures. The company trained 26,505 employees, achieving a 93% success rate in training goals, emphasizing its commitment to workforce development.

On the operational front, Ethio Telecom’s subscriber base grew to 80.5 million, a 7.9% increase from the previous year. This includes 77.7 million mobile voice subscribers, 43.5 million mobile data users, 784,100 fixed broadband users, and 765,600 fixed voice subscribers. Telecom density in Ethiopia reached 72.2%, driven by network infrastructure expansion, new product launches, and the sale of 9.3 million new SIM cards.

To enhance service quality and accessibility, Ethio Telecom deployed 202 new mobile stations, increasing mobile network capacity to 90.7 million. It expanded its 4G and 5G networks, adding 4G services in 67 cities and 5G connectivity in 10 cities. Additionally, 81 rural mobile network sites were established across 71 woredas to extend services to underserved areas. The company’s Optical Distribution Network (ODN) capacity grew with 133,672 new customer accommodations, totaling 769,932. Ethio Telecom also migrated 18,300 customer connections from copper to fiber as part of its Copper Switch-off Initiative.

The company launched 171 new and revamped products and services during the reporting period, including 62 new offerings and 109 upgrades. It opened 68 new service centers, bringing the total to 1,000, with a mix of franchised and company-owned locations. Ethio Telecom now collaborates with 64 main distributors, 43 virtual top-up distributors, 12,700 sub-distributors, and 290,600 retailers.

Ethio Telecom’s corporate social responsibility initiatives included contributions totaling ETB 287.2 million toward education, healthcare, environmental protection, and national projects. The company planted 446,000 seedlings as part of its Green Legacy program. Additionally, it obtained international certifications for ISO 27001:2022, PCI DSS, and Cloud Security Alliance for its telebirr and Telecloud services.