Ethio Telecom earned 36.3 billion birr, about $1.26 billion, in the 2018/19 Ethiopian fiscal year, a 7 percent rise that still missed its target, chief executive Frehiwot Tamiru said, 2merkato reported.
Ethio Telecom headquarters in Addis Ababa, September 2025 (Oliversum, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0) [file photo]
The revenue was 85 percent of the target, despite tariff cuts of 40 to 50 percent earlier in the year. After the cuts, data usage rose by 130 percent and voice traffic by 19 percent, Frehiwot told reporters. New Business Ethiopia put revenue slightly higher, at 36.6 billion birr.
Subscribers grew 15 percent to 43.6 million from 37.92 million a year earlier, giving a tele-density of 44.5 percent. Mobile voice subscribers numbered 41.92 million, data and internet users 22.3 million, and fixed-line users 1.2 million.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization were 24.5 billion birr, 79 percent of target and 5.6 percent higher than the year before. The company paid 16.2 billion birr in taxes, 40 percent more than a year earlier, and 7 billion birr in dividends. It also paid $362 million of debt that had been outstanding for three years, according to 2merkato; New Business Ethiopia put total loan repayments for the year at 9.9 billion birr, about $343 million.
Income from international calls was $98.3 million, up 37 percent, and data made up 29 percent of total revenue, New Business Ethiopia reported. Incoming international traffic rose 50 percent after years of decline.
Frehiwot said the state-owned monopoly had struggled with telecom fraud, power cuts and tampering with fibre cables. She said it was preparing for partial privatization, after the government decided to sell a minority stake and open the sector, and had held talks with several international telecom companies on modernizing the network.
Sources: 2merkato, New Business Ethiopia