INTRODUCTION
Econet Wireless Zimbabwe (“the Company / Group”) remains the leader in the telecommunications sector commanding a customer market share of close to 70%. Our leadership position has been attained and maintained through an understanding of customer needs and continued provision of telecommunications services at a quality level that is unmatched by the competition. Not only has the Company continued to grow its market share, its volume growth in terms of minutes of use and data bytes delivered has remained resilient showing that there is still strong demand in the market for our products and services.
OPERATING REVIEW
Our engineers and commercial teams have had to come up with innovative ways to manage network quality and availability under extremely challenging circumstances. The Board commends our management team for achieving the quality of service and network reliability that they have achieved with no grid power during the day and without foreign currency for key maintenance activities, let alone capacity upgrades. The Company has focused its available resources on investing in alternative renewable power solutions. Our core sites, including our switching centres have now been connected using solar power. However, our efforts have been hampered by our limited access to foreign currency…
FINANCIAL REVIEW
Cautionary
Users of the financial statements are recommended to exercise caution in the use of these financial statements. Whilst the Directors have exercised reasonable due care and applied judgements that they felt were appropriate in the preparation and presentation of these financial statements, certain distortions may arise due to various specific economic factors that may affect the relevance and reliability of information that is presented in economies that are experiencing hyperinflation. The commentary in this Chairman’s report is based on the inflation adjusted financial statements.
Consolidated performance
Group revenue for the half year to 31 August 2019 was ZW$ 1.3 billion. The Earnings Before Interest Taxation, Depreciation and Amortisation (“EBITDA”) margin was 42%. Management implemented appropriate cost efficiency strategies in light of the deteriorating economic environment…
OUTLOOK
The robust business model that we have developed has shown its resilience over time. The strength and resilience of the business has been demonstrated over the years. Over the last 10 years, post the first hyperinflation episode, which ended in 2009, the business has experienced exceptional growth.
We remain confident in the prospects of the business and its ability to withstand the challenges that confront us. Our relationships with our vendors, policy makers, our customers and people will be pivotal to our success. We continue to place emphasis on creating sustainable long term solutions and we hope and trust that the policy thrust from the authorities will be anchored on creating a sustainable business environment. We are confident that we have put in place the structures and processes that will allow us to quickly adapt to the changes in our environment.
DIVIDEND DECLARATION
The Board has not recommended the declaration of a dividend for the half year ending 31 August 2019.
APPRECIATION
Once again, on behalf of the Board, I would like to extend my profound gratitude to our customers who have supported the business through this difficult period. I would like to recognise the invaluable support that we continue to receive from our partners. The unwavering commitment from management and our staff in creating and preserving shareholder value is greatly appreciated. I would also like to acknowledge the collective and invaluable support that I continue to receive from fellow Board members.
Dr. J. Myers
Chairman of the Board
Related download
ECONET | 2020 Half year financial results.pdf