Johannesburg - South African mobile phone operator Vodacom reported a six-percent decline in full-year earnings on Monday.
The company, majority owned by Britain's Vodafone, said diluted headline earnings per share came in at 840 cents in the year to the end of March, from 894 cents a year earlier.
“In South Africa, we faced major cuts in mobile termination rates (MTRs), a weak economic environment, exchange rate volatility and increased price competition,” Vodacom's CEO Shameel Joosub said in a statement.
South African authorities asked operators to reduce the levies they charge to carry calls from other networks on their lines. The move has hurt bigger players such as Vodacom and its main rival MTN Group and boosted the fortunes of smaller carriers such as Cell C.
The company, with operations across five African countries, said subscribers increased by more than 7 percent to 61.6 million.
Vodacom shares are up nearly 12 percent this year, growing faster than Johannesburg's blue-chip index that has added 9 percent so far.
Reuters