Paratus Namibia invested N$75 million in capital projects for the six months ending 31 December 2023. This was a sharp decline compared to N$123 million invested in 2022.
In line with the strategy for this financial year, the number of new sites and fiber in new areas were limited to focus on the sign-up of new customers on the existing infrastructure, the company said.
The majority of capital expenditure was towards capacity expansion and customer access of the current network.
“The outcome of this approach is reflected in the growth of recurring revenue. For the period up to 31 December 2023, N$17.3million was invested, in conjunction with Paratus Botswana, for the construction of the fiber line running through Botswana to link the Equiano subsea cable in Swakopmund to Johannesburg. The expected completion date is mid-March 2024, at an estimated total cost of USD2.55 million,” Paratus said.
The company said investment in infrastructure bodes well for the group, as is evident from the improvement in the Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA) margin, emanating from the cost savings realised by using own infrastructure, as well as adding customers to existing network infrastructure.
For the period ended 31 December, the group, delivered strong overall revenue growth of 26% against a backdrop of a weak economy. The strong revenue growth for the period is mainly driven from the expansion of its Fiber, SKY-Fi and LTE networks across Namibia, capacity sales on the Equiano subsea cable and the occupation of the data centre.
The company recorded revenue of N$249.8 million (31 December 2022: N$200.3 million), which represents a growth of 24.7%. Non-recurring revenue, which mainly represents Local Area Network installations in the commercial space and the sale of telecommunication equipment, amounting to N$25.9 million (31 December 2022: N$18.3 million.
This represents a growth of 41.5% notwithstanding management’s focus to grow recurring revenue as opposed to lower margin non-recurring revenue.
The net profit before taxation for Paratus Namibia amounted to N$ 32 million (31 December 2022:
N$22.2 million) and earnings before EBITDA amounted to N$121.3 million (31 December 2022: N$74.4 million). This represents a growth of 44% and 63%, respectively.
