NAIROBI
Wednesday March 13, 2013
- Kenya's leading Corporate Internet and IT Solutions Provider AccessKenya
Group Tuesday announced a 62% increase in pre tax profit for the 2012 financial
year to KSh 212 million, building on the improvements made in 2011.The company
has declared a payment of a dividend of 30 cents per share to shareholders.
AccessKenya Group CEO Jonathan Somen said "Our leased line
connections are up by 700 customers to 5400 total leased lines, our Revenues
are up by 9% to Kshs 1.9 billion, our EBITDA is up over Kshs 100 million to
Kshs 700 million, our pre tax profits are up 62% to Kshs 212 million and our
Profit After tax is up Kshs 42 million to Kshs 151 million. All our key metrics have improved
significantly and this reflects our positioning as the number one choice of
corporate service provider in Kenya
Somen attributed the improved
performance to a significant increase in internet subscriptions, a highly
robust and reliable network and strong customer service that have spurred
customer growth for the company. To date, the company remains the provider of
choice for businesses seeking high speed reliable internet connections and IT
Solutions within Kenya
Mr. Somen said that all the company's
key performance metrics improved in 2012, further noting that the company remains
focused on continued growth, excellent value for money and high quality of
service for all its customers.
"Our corporate leased lines grew
from 4,700 to 5,400 compared to the same period in 2011. This is an indication
that we remained steadfast in our core business - corporate data and IT solutions.
More and more customers have realized that we have the best network and are
signing up for our service," he said.
The CEO observed that the company was
also continuing to reap the benefits of migrating customers onto its world-class
metro fibre network which continues to expand across all the key business areas
of Nairobi and Mombasa
"As a result of the growth in
customer numbers, our total revenues increased by 9% last year despite the
continued fall in Average Revenue per User experienced across the industry. This
revenue increase, coupled with careful control of costs, boosted the EBITDA
from KSh 594 million in 2011 to KSh700 million in 2012, and an increase in
profit before tax from KSh131m in 2011 to KSh212m last year. This has allowed
us to pay a dividend to shareholders as well as continuing to fund our significant
fibre expansion programme" he explained.
AccessKenya Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Peter Ndirangu further commenting on the results said: “We are pleased with the progress of the
company and with the increase in net profit and therefore Earnings per Share
(“EPS”) which increased from 0.50 cents in 2011 to 0.69 cents in 2012. EPS was
impacted by two material unusual items during the course of 2012. Firstly, we
were negatively impacted by the extremely high interest rates, which more than
offset the effect of normal and early loan repayments resulting in an increase
in interest cost compared to 2011.
Secondly, as our tax rate goes back to 30% next year, following the
expiry of our tax break to 20% post IPO, accounting standards require us to
adjust our taxes via deferred tax to reflect the 30% level for this year. The
two items combined have impacted our net profit by at least KSh 30 million and
therefore our earnings per share by at least 0.14 cents.”
Mr. Ndirangu continued to discuss the
company’s gearing levels and investment.
“The free cash flow generated by our business performance allowed us to
invest nearly KSh 400 million in our infrastructure – primarily on our world
class metro fibre – while at the same time reducing our debt levels, with
gearing levels falling from 79% at the end of 2011 to 49% at the end of 2012. Effectively
this means that we are de-risking our business while being able to invest
significantly and pay a dividend without access to external funding sources,” the
CFO said.
The results come even as AccessKenya
continues to tighten grip of the corporate data market whose penetration, the
company believes, is still low at between 25% and 30%. AccessKenya CEO, Mr. Jonathan Somen maintains there are good prospects
ahead for the company and has exuded confidence in the company's performance
saying AccessKenya has invested wisely in versatile infrastructure that will
continue to form the backbone of its scalable services to the increasing number
of customers. "If you look at these results, you will agree that as much
as the internet usage on mobile phones has gone up, the demand for fixed
internet connectivity continues to grow and this is our core business," he
said. “Add to this the improvement in our IT services businesses including
cloud services and you see a robust picture for future growth based on fibre
and on cloud and other value added services.
During 2013 and into the future, we will be focusing heavily on Cloud
Services and other value added services while maintaining our growth and
delivery of services in our core corporate data market.”
Mr. Somen concluded: “We are pleased
to deliver these significantly improved financial results which support our continued
capital expenditure programme, the payment of a dividend of 30 cents per share
for our shareholders, and ongoing improvements to speed, value for money,
customer service and reliability for our customers.”
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