Millicom, the operator group focused on Latin America and Africa, posted impressive revenue growth in Q2 from its mobile financial services which, however, also showed the impact of churn among money subscribers.

The operator has attracted over 7.4 million subscribers to its mobile financial services – equivalent to a penetration rate of 18 per cent of its customer base in countries where the service has debuted.

It added 114,000 new subscribers to its financial services.  Take-up in the quarter was driven by Honduras and El Salvador.

Revenue and transaction volume from the company’s money services grew by 41 per cent and 37 per cent, respectively.

The company does not reveal actual revenue figures. However it said ARPU was $1.14, a decline from $1.34 in the same period in 2013.

The company’s penetration rate (for its mobile financial services) of 18 per cent of its base (excluding recently launched Senegal) has remained flat over the past three months. Including the African country pulls the rate down to 17 per cent.

Penetration in Q2 was hit by rising churn in Tanzania – the most important market for Millicom’s financial services – and Paraguay.

Africa accounts for the bulk of its money subscribers with 4.7 million, followed by Central America (1.4 million) and South America (1.3 million).