Ethio Telecom profit more than doubles before planned stake sale

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopian state-owned telecoms company Ethio Telecom's profit more than doubled in its latest financial year to about 18.8 billion birr ($344 million), as revenue and subscriber numbers also rose, its chief executive said on Tuesday.

The government is planning to sell a stake of up to 45% in Ethio Telecom, after reviving a previously postponed privatisation process.

The telecoms industry is seen as a big prize in Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's push to open up one of East Africa's largest economies after he took over in 2018, thanks to a large population of about 120 million.

But efforts to lure investment have been slowed by a nearly two-year war in northern Tigray that has killed tens of thousands and uprooted millions.

Ethio Telecom CEO Frehiwot Tamiru told a news conference that the company's subscribers had risen by 8% to 72 million, while subscribers to its financial service Telebirr rose to 34.3 million from 27.2 million six months earlier.

Revenue rose more than 23% to 75.8 billion birr in the latest financial year.

The government's economic liberalisation agenda includes a plan to issue a telecoms licence for a third operator. Ethio Telecom currently competes with a consortium led by Kenya's Safaricom which started operations in October 2022.

($1 = 54.6894 birr)

(Reporting by Dawit Endeshaw; writing by Alexander Winning; editing by Jason Neely)

By Dawit Endeshaw