JOHANNESBURG - South ‍African mobile operator ‍Vodacom Group posted on Wednesday a nearly 13% rise in ​third-quarter service revenue, driven by solid growth across its African operations, particularly ⁠in Egypt and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Vodacom, majority-owned by Britain's Vodafone, ⁠said group service revenue ‌rose to 34.6 billion rand ($2.17 billion) in the three-month period ended December 31, compared with a year-ago period.

On a ⁠normalised basis, group service revenue jumped 13.6%, "tracking favourably against our medium-term target," Vodacom said.

"The quarter benefited from sustained growth in Egypt and our international business, including a strong performance in DRC, while ⁠South Africa delivered modest ​but satisfactory revenue growth against a particularly strong comparative quarter last year," Vodacom Group CEO Shameel ‍Joosub said in a statement.

The financial services segment remained a key growth engine, accounting ​for a 24.7% jump in service revenue to 4.5 billion rand, Joosub said, adding that the company's mobile money platforms, including Kenya's Safaricom, processed $500.7 billion in transaction value over the last 12 months.

Including Safaricom, Vodacom surpassed 100 million financial-services customers during the quarter.

Despite a tough consumer environment in South Africa, service revenue in the market inched 1.4% higher to 16.4 billion rand, supported by a 2.6% rise in contract revenue.

Prepaid revenue, ⁠however, remained under pressure due to the strained ‌consumer backdrop and promotional pricing, Joosub said.

Service revenue in Vodacom's international operations grew 12.6%, led by a 39% surge in Egypt, ‌which now ⁠contributes 27.5% of group service revenue for the quarter.

 

($1 = 15.9191 rand)