Telkom reports strong earnings growth driven by data revenue surge

Telecommunications company Telkom has continued its upward trajectory in earnings, fueled by robust growth in data revenues. The telecommunications group recently reinstated dividend payments after posting a substantial profit of R7 billion for the 2024/25 financial year. This positive momentum carried into the latest quarter, with earnings continuing to rise.

“We are pleased to report solid results for the first quarter, building on last year’s strong performance,” said Group Chief Executive Officer Serame Taukobong. “Our data-led strategy remains a key competitive advantage, enabling us to sustain this momentum into FY2026.”

The company’s strategy of prioritizing mobile data and fibre-based services has paid off, with these segments contributing significantly to overall revenue. This aligns with Telkom’s medium-term objectives and growth assumptions.

Financial Highlights:

• EBITDA increased by 6.5%, reaching R2.8 billion, reflecting improved profitability.
• Group revenue grew by 1.1%, supported by strong data performance:
  • Overall data revenue: up 7.1%
  • Mobile data revenue: up 9.6%
  • Fibre data revenue: up 11.3%

Taukobong expressed confidence in sustaining this performance throughout the financial year, citing data revenue as the primary growth driver. Currently, data services account for nearly 60% of total Group revenue, reinforcing the success of Telkom’s data-centric approach.

Business Unit Performance:

• Telkom Consumer: Mobile service revenue rose 7.8%, driven by a 27.5% year-on-year increase in mobile data users, who now represent 72.1% of the total 17.2 million mobile subscribers.
• Openserve: Delivered strong results with 11.3% growth in fibre data revenue. The unit exceeded its fibre connection target, achieving a 50% connection rate by linking 107,907 homes, and has now passed 1.4 million homes.
• BCX: Faced challenges, with revenue declining 8.3% and annuity-based revenue remaining flat. Despite growth in fibre data, voice revenue continued to decline. A specialized turnaround team has been deployed to accelerate recovery.

Capital Management: Telkom’s financial position remains solid following the settlement of R4.75 billion in interest-bearing debt after year-end. This was funded from the R6.618 billion proceeds of the Swiftnet disposal concluded in FY2025. Of these proceeds:

• R500 million was returned to shareholders as a special dividend.
• The remainder was retained to maintain financial flexibility for future growth opportunities without compromising resilience.

“The performance of our data revenue gives us confidence that we are on track to achieve our new medium-term guidance of mid-single-digit growth,” Taukobong added.