Business
Airtel Losses $549 Million On FX Following Currency Devaluations In Nigeria, Malawi
Airtel Africa Plc, Nigeria’s second-largest telecom operator, has announced a loss after tax of $89m for the fiscal year ending in March 2024.
The company attributes this decline to a significant foreign exchange loss of $549m, which was caused by the devaluations of the Nigerian naira in June 2024 and the Malawian kwacha in November 2023.
In its report released on Thursday, Airtel Africa highlighted that these foreign exchange losses had a severe impact on its quarterly earnings. The company reported a growth in constant currency revenue, with a 20.9% increase for the full year and a further acceleration to 23.1% in Q4’23.
Despite challenging conditions, Nigerian constant currency revenue increased by 34.2% in Q4 ’23. However, reported currency revenues declined by 5.3% to $4,979m, primarily due to the effects of currency devaluation, particularly in Nigeria.
Olusegun Ogunsanya, the Chief Executive Officer of Airtel Africa, emphasized the importance of facilitating growth and investing in distribution and technology to support this growth. These factors have been instrumental in the company’s performance and will continue to be prioritized.
“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 stated in part of his comments on the report.
The report also highlights a 9.0% increase in the total customer base, reaching 152.7 million.
The company is committed to narrowing the digital gap, evidenced by a 17.8% rise in data customers to 64.4 million and a 20.8% increase in data usage per customer.
In terms of mobile services revenue across the group, there was a 19.4% growth in constant currency, fueled by a 11.9% increase in voice revenue and a 29.2% surge in data revenue.
Mobile Money revenue saw a significant 32.8% growth in constant currency, particularly strong in East Africa.
Furthermore, the company’s management will be hosting an analyst and investor conference call at 1:00 p.m. UK time (BST) on Thursday, May 9, 2024, which will include a question-and-answer session.
