JSE-listed Telkom on Tuesday reported growth in earnings for the six months ended September 30, underpinned by the company’s data-led strategy.

The group’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) increased 7.4% to R6.02-billion for the first half of the 2026 financial year, owing to revenue growth and ongoing cost optimisation initiatives. Telkom’s Ebitda margin expanded to 27.2%.

“The group's data-led strategy delivered quality earnings and growth. We built on our previous strong performance and demonstrated the competitive advantage of the group's data-led strategy in the challenging operating conditions of the first half of the 2026 financial year,” said Telkom Group CEO Serame Taukobong.

“The group’s financial position remains strong, with net debt to Ebitda stable at 0.7x after the settlement of R4.83-billion in interest-bearing debt during the period.”

Headline earnings a share increased 16.4% to 305.6c during the six months under review, largely owing to an increase in operating profit and supported by finance charge savings from the debt repayment, while basic earnings a share were up 12.7% to 325.7c.

Telkom’s group revenue expanded 3.4% to R22.1-billion, driven by robust mobile data revenue growth of 10.3% and fibre-related data revenue growth of 12.3%.

Group data revenue increased 7.9% to R13.07-billion, contributing 59.1% to total revenue during the six months to September 30.

“Double-digit growth in mobile and fibre-related data revenue underscored the success of the data-led strategy,” said Taukobong, noting that the group continues to leverage the advantage of its extensive fibre footprint, consistently built over a long time, to drive growth through strong mobile offerings in service and data and continues to “sharpen its competitive edge” through the OneTelkom approach.

During the first six months of the 2026 financial year, Openserve’s overall revenue grew by 2.7% to R6.33-billion, underpinned by growth in the enterprise, carrier services and broadband segments.

Fibre-related revenue increased by 10.1% to R5.06-billion, as homes passed reached 1.5-million and homes connected reached a market-leading 52%. Openserve’s Ebitda edged up 1.2% to R2.11-billion, with a resilient margin of margin of 33.3%.

Meanwhile, Telkom Consumer increased its operating revenue by 6.4% to R14.25-billion, driven by advanced data analytics, optimisation of the product portfolio and expansion of distribution channels.

Mobile service revenue increased by 7.9% to R11.03-billion, while mobile data subscribers grew by 26.7% to 18.5-million, now representing 75.3% of the total mobile subscriber base of 24.5-million.

Mobile’s Ebitda increased 9.5% to R3.51-billion and the Ebitda margin expanded to 27.6%.

BCX’s Ebitda rose 5.1% to R581-million, while its Ebitda margin improved to 9.9% for the interim period under review.

Fibre-related data revenue grew by 13.8% while information technology hardware and software revenue increased by 4.3%. However, overall revenue declined by 4.4% to R5.87-billion, primarily owing to a decrease from Converged Communications.

Sequential improvement in the second quarter of the period under review followed strategic actions recommended by the special task team, which included cost transformation, portfolio optimisation and digital enablement, he said.

“Looking to the remainder of the financial year, we are encouraged by the performance we achieved in the first half. Delivering quality earnings and growth through focusing on our targets and medium-term guidance remains our top priority,” Taukobong continued.

During the second half of the year, revenue will remain a key area of focus across the group and sustainable cost-optimisation efforts are set to continue.

“We will continue to leverage the unique advantage of our extensive fibre footprint to drive growth through our strong mobile offerings in service and data.”