Safaricom

Fri 10 Aug 2007, 11:04 GMT

By Helen Nyambura-Mwaura

NAIROBI, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Kenya's leading mobile phone firm expects profit this year to be in line with last year and is targeting 9 million subscribers by the end of March from 7.3 million now, its head said on Friday.

Safaricom, jointly owned by Kenya's government and Britain's Vodafone posted pre-tax profit of 17.19 billion shillings ($258.6 million) in the year to March 31, the highest posted by any company in the east African country.

"We expect this year to be as good as, if not better, than last year," Chief Executive Officer Michael Joseph told Reuters in an interview.

"We have 7.3 million subscribers right now, and we will be over 9 million by the end of our financial year. That's our target."

Joseph said he was confident the operator would maintain its lead and expand market share despite the planned entry of a third mobile firm in 2008.

full article from Reuters Africa