Safaricom, Kenya's leading telecommunications company, reported a slight uptick in profits, albeit dampened by the underperformance of its Ethiopian arm.

The firm disclosed a profit of Ksh62.99 billion for the review period, marking a modest increase from Ksh62.26 billion the previous year.

However, Safaricom's Ethiopian subsidiary, in which it holds a 51 percent stake, incurred a hefty loss of Ksh21.7 billion, exerting downward pressure on the group's overall financial performance.

Of particular note is Safaricom's resurgence into profitability following three consecutive years of losses, with earnings surpassing the billion-dollar threshold.

"We are extremely pleased with what we have been able to achieve as a group despite the significant startup costs in our Ethiopia business. We expect that from 2025, Ethiopia will start being a significant growth contributor at group level for both top and bottom line," said Safaricom in a statement.

Anticipating a major shift, the company foresees Ethiopia emerging as a significant growth driver from 2025, contributing substantially to both the top and bottom lines.

M-Pesa, Safaricom's flagship mobile money service, emerged as the primary revenue generator, surpassing the 40 percent milestone in service revenue contribution.

Earnings surged to Sh139.9 billion, constituting 42 percent of Safaricom's total service revenue, a notable increase from 19.36 percent in the preceding year.

The M-Pesa ecosystem witnessed further expansion, with transaction values and volumes climbing by 9.6 percent and 33.9 percent year-on-year, culminating in Sh40.2 trillion and 28.3 billion transactions, respectively.