Vodacom Tanzania board ups dividend by 40 per cent

Dar es Salaam. Shareholders with Vodacom Tanzania Plc will see to a 40 per cent rise in dividend during the year to March 31, 2019.
The company said in a statement on Wednesday that the board would take the Sh24.41 per share dividend proposal to the company’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) next month.
“The Board of Directors of Vodacom Tanzania PLC is pleased to recommend a gross dividend of Sh24.31 per issued and fully paid up share, subject to obtaining approval from the AGM of shareholders to be held on Friday, 20 September 2019,” the firm’s statement reads.
With 2.24 billion issued shares, the Sh24.31 dividend per share translates into a total of Sh54.454 billion. This is a 40.3 per cent rise from a dividend per share of Sh17.33 or a total dividend of Sh38.8 billion that was issued during the preceding year (ending March 31, 2018).
The trading of shares cum dividend will go on from July 29 and close on August 19. In May, Vodacom Tanzania Plc announced its preliminary consolidated financial results, showing that its service revenue crossed the Sh1 trillion mark to settle on Sh1.016 trillion during the year ending March, 2019 compared to Sh977.9 billion recorded during the year ending March, 2018.
Messaging emerged as the fastest growing revenue stream though it accounted for only Sh41.441 billion during the year ending March 31, 2019.
With 17.9 and 14.5 per cent growth rates respectively, mobile data and M-Pesa came second and third fastest growing revenue streams respectively.
The Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE) listed telecommunication firm earned Sh167.016 billion and Sh333.519 billion from mobile data and M-Pesa streams respectively.
Earnings from voice communication services dropped by 1.1 per cent during the year ending March 31, 2019 to Sh388.171 billion from Sh392.294 billion during the year ending March 31, 2018.
However, net profit and total comprehensive income for the year dropped to Sh90 billion during the revised year ending March, 2019 from Sh170 billion recorded during the year ending March, 2018.