Airtel Africa records $31m profit after tax for Q1 2024
By Oluwaseyi Lawal
Airtel Africa Plc announced a post-tax profit of $31 million for the quarter ending June 30, 2024, showcasing its ability to withstand foreign exchange difficulties.
Although the depreciation of the Nigerian naira led to significant derivative and foreign exchange losses totaling $80 million after tax, Airtel Africa’s robust fundamentals and strategic initiatives helped lessen the impact.
Despite an increase in revenue, the Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA) margins decreased to 45.3% from 49.5% in Q1’24 and 46.5% in Q4’24. This decline was attributed to higher fuel costs and a reduced contribution from Nigeria following the devaluation of the naira.
Addressing the revenue growth, Airtel Africa’s Chief Executive Officer, Sunil Taldar, stated,
“Profit after tax of $31m was impacted by $80m of exceptional derivative and foreign exchange losses (net of tax), arising from the further depreciation in the Nigerian naira during the quarter,”
The telecom company reported a 19% increase in revenue in constant currency for the first quarter, fueled by strong performances in Nigeria and East Africa. Nigeria’s revenue rose by 33.4%, and East Africa saw a 22.3% increase. However, due to currency devaluation, revenue from Nigerian operations fell by 16.1% to $1.16 million. Mobile services revenue grew by 17.4%, and mobile money revenue increased by 28.4%.
Sunil Taldar, said, “The continued revenue growth momentum once again reflects the resilient demand for our services, with sustained growth in our customer base and usage.
“Our superior execution enables us to capture these opportunities, whilst retaining our reputation as a cost leader across the industry.”
Taldar emphasized the company’s excellent execution, cost efficiency, and growth potential in enterprise, fiber, and data center operations throughout Africa.
He stressed the importance of enhancing customer experience by streamlining customer journeys and providing top-tier network services. The telecom CEO also revealed a thorough cost optimization initiative, which had successfully reduced network and distribution expenses.
“We will build on the strong foundation established over many years to deliver on these new business opportunities. Most importantly, our emphasis is on significantly improving customer experience by simplifying customer journeys and providing best-in-class network experience to our customers, whilst remaining focused on driving efficiencies across the business.”
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