Ethio telecom Reports Over 40pc Revenue Growth, Faces Decline in Forex, Plans Nationwide Fibre Cable Upgrade

The state-owned telco posted today its second-quarter results marking 43pc revenue jump compared to the same period last year.

Ethio telecom has recorded 61.9 billion Br in total revenue for the first six months of the 2024/25 fiscal year, leading to a 66pc surge in pre-tax profit, reaching 32.82 billion Br.

However, due to the sharp depreciation of the Birr, the company’s revenue and profit have declined in dollar terms. In January 2024, the exchange rate was 56.4 Br for a dollar, but had fallen to 125 Br a dollar a year later. When converted to dollars, Ethio telecom’s revenue for the first half of last year was approximately 750 million dollars, whereas this year, a 34pc drop in the second quarter of this year. Profit before tax fell by 90 million dollars to about 260 million dollars this year. Revenue from international services reached 64.4 million dollars, achieving 63.8pc of the target. The company repaid 15.4 million dollars in foreign loans over the past six months.

Frehiwot Tamru, CEO of Ethio telecom, attributed the revenue growth mainly to a sharp rise in mobile data usage, which surged 48.8pc to 642.2 billion megabytes. Mobile voice services also grew, reaching 83.6 billion minutes, a 12.7pc increase. The company added five million new Telebirr users, bringing the total to 51.5 million, and processed over one trillion Birr in electronic transactions.

Frehiwot credited the company’s cost-cutting measures, including outsourcing work to in-house employees, for the strong performance. She also announced plans to replace all copper internet cables with fibre optics within two years. So far, 1,147 sites in Addis Abeba and 880 sites in regional states have undergone the transition.