Airtel Africa reports strong operating performance despite foreign exchange headwinds
Lagos. Airtel Africa has reported a strong operating performance for the half year ended September 30, 2023, despite foreign exchange headwinds in many of its markets, and specifically in Nigeria.
According to the report, the company's revenue in Nigeria grew by 23 percent in constant currency, driven by growth in voice, data, and mobile money usage.
Airtel Africa's customer base in Nigeria also grew by 7.8 percent to 59.8 million, while its mobile money customer base grew by 19 percent to 36.5 million.
Airtel Africa's performance in Nigeria is particularly impressive, given the challenges posed by the naira devaluation since June 2023.
The devaluation significantly impacted Airtel Africa's reported currency revenue in Nigeria, which declined by 4.7 percent in the second quarter of fiscal 2024.
However, Airtel Africa mitigated the impact of the naira devaluation on its profitability by focusing more on cost efficiencies. As a result, the company's EBITDA margin in Nigeria improved by 70 basis points to 49.6 percent.
Commenting on the performance the group’s Chief Executive Officer Olusegun Ogunsanya, said he was pleased to report a strong operating performance for the Group despite foreign exchange headwinds in many of our markets and specifically in Nigeria.
“The resilient growth in voice, data and mobile money usage levels reflects the inherent demand for these essential services across our footprint."
In other markets, Airtel Africa recorded strong performance with double-digit constant currency revenue growth in mobile services and mobile money.
Airtel Africa's EBITDA margin improved by 70 basis points to 49.6 percent, reflecting continued cost efficiencies.
The company invested $312m in capex, with the majority of this investment going towards expanding and improving its networks. Airtel Africa also declared an interim dividend of 2.38 cents per share, an increase of 9 percent.
Looking forward, Ogunsany said, “The delivery of affordable and reliable telecom and mobile money services across our markets remains our key focus. Our strong operating performance continues to make us a stronger and bigger company, which is well-positioned to deliver against the growth opportunities these markets offer. Despite the challenges of rising diesel prices in Nigeria, we aim to limit the impact with continued operational leverage and further cost efficiencies to deliver an improved EBITDA margin in FY’24 versus FY’23.”
