By Gitahi Ngunyi
@gitahi_ngunyi
Airtel Africa has reported a 9 percent growth in customer numbers to 152.7 million for the year ended 31st March 2024. In results sent to newsroom this morning, the firm with is listed in London and Nigeria Stock Exchanges said mobile money subscribers increased 20.7 percentr reflecting continued investment into distribution to drive increased financial inclusion across its markets.
The results show the firm reporting a net loss of $89 million (equivalent to Sh11.7 billion) driven in largely by foreign exchange turmoil in Africa that resulted in a $549m exceptional loss net of tax following the Nigerian naira devaluation in June 2023 and last quarter of of the year, and the Malawian Kwacha devaluation in November 2023.
However, revenue in constant currency grew by 20.9 percent with growth accelerating to 23.1 percent in last quarter of the year.
“Nigerian constant currency revenue growth accelerated to 34.2 percent in the fourth quarter despite the challenging backdrop. Reported currency revenues declined by 5.3% to $4,979 million reflecting the impact of currency devaluation, particularly in Nigeria,” said the firm.
The firm’s chief executive officer Olusegun Ogunsanya said the consistent deployment of its ‘Win with’ strategy had supported the acceleration in constant currency revenue growth over the recent quarters which has reduced the impact of currency headwinds faced across most of our markets.
“This strong revenue performance is a reflection not only of the opportunity that is inherent across our markets, but also the resilience of our affordable offerings despite the inflationary pressure many of our customers have experienced,” said Ogunsanya.
Across the group mobile services revenue grew by 19.4 percent in constant currency, driven by voice revenue growth of 11.9 percent and data revenue growth of 29.2 percent.
Mobile Money revenue grew by 32.8 percent in constant currency, with a continued strong performance in East Africa.
Firm’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) margins remained resilient at 48.8 percent despite the currency headwinds and inflationary pressure on the firm’s cost base.
“Constant currency EBITDA increased 21.3 percent with reported currency EBITDA declining 5.7 percent to $2.4 million. Quarter 4 EBITDA margins of 46.5 percent were impacted by the lower contribution of Nigeria following the quarter 4 Naira devaluation and rising energy costs across a number of markets.
The firm’s earnings per share (EPS) improved to -4.4 cents from -17.7 cents last year.
“EPS before exceptional items was 10.1 cents, a decline of 25.9%. Both EPS before exceptional items and basic EPS were primarily impacted by significant derivative and foreign exchange losses during the year. EPS before exceptional items and derivative and foreign exchange losses was 18.3 cents compared to 20.5 cents in the prior period,” said the firm.
Ogunsanya said that facilitating this growth momentum has been, and will remain, fundamental to the firm’s performance.
“The investment in our distribution to catalyse growth, and the technology required to support this growth has been key. Furthermore, our rigorous approach to de-risking our balance sheet and our capital allocation priorities has materially reduced the risks that the currency devaluation has had on our business.
He said key initiatives is currently undertaking include the reduction of US dollar debt across the business and the accumulation of cash at the HoldCo level to fully cover the outstanding debt due.
“We will continue to focus on reducing our exposure to currency volatility. At the beginning of March, we launched our first buyback programme reflecting the strength of our financial position,” he said.
Mobile money transaction value increased by 38.2 percent in constant currency with annual transaction value of over $112bn in reported currency.
“Increased transactions across the ecosystem reflects the enhanced range of offerings and increased customer adoption, supporting constant currency average revenue per user (ARPU) growth of 8.6 percent,” said statement from the firm.
