Safaricom (NSE:SCOM) borrowed additional short-term bank loans amounting to Sh24.7 billion in the half year ended September when its net profit dropped six percent due to removal of fees on M-Pesa transactions of up to Sh1,000.
KCB Group (NSE:KCB) is among the country’s major banks that provided the loans to Safaricom that the telco used to fund its dividend payments and infrastructure investments.
The loans came in a six-month period when Safaricom’s net profit dropped to Sh33 billion from Sh35.1 billion, hurt by the impact of the coronavirus crisis.
It is the first time in nine years Kenya’s most profitable firm is reporting a fall in earnings.
