The turnover of the Sonatel group (National Telecommunications Company) of Senegal, which includes subsidiaries in Mali, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone, increased by 9.9% in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the same period of 2020, announced the leaders of this Dakar-based telecommunications company.
This turnover increased from 274.10 billion FCFA in the first quarter of 2020 to 314.20 billion FCFA during the period under review, an increase of 28.4 billion FCFA in absolute value. According to Sonatel officials, “this good growth is mainly driven by Retail (data, orange money and fixed line services) in all countries and mainly in Guinea, Mali and Sierra Leone”.
As for the Ebitdaal (EBITDA after Leases, an indicator of financial profitability which takes into account the depreciation and interest charges relating to leases which replaces the adjusted EBITDA (income before interest, taxes and depreciation) , it increased by 14.4%, amounting to 132.2 billion FCFA, an increase of 16.6 billion FCFA compared to the first quarter of 2020.
As for the net result, it has increased significantly by 26.5% with an achievement of 55 billion FCFA as of March 31, 2021, attributable according to the managers of the telephone company “to the performance on the operating margin reinforced by the control of depreciation despite the increase noted in financial expenses ”.
Sonatel’s eCAPEX (tangible and intangible investments excluding telecommunications licenses and financed assets, minus the sale prices of intangible and tangible assets sold), increased slightly by 1.6% to 38.2 billion FCFA compared to in the first quarter of 2020.
As of March 31, 2021, the Sonatel group had a total of 13.2 million internet and mobile customers, up 9.2%.
As for orange money customers, the telephone company advances the number of 8.8 million, a sharp increase of 25.2% compared to the first quarter of 2020.
