Airtel Africa plc has announced results for nine-month period ended 31 December 2023 showing an intention to buy back up to $100m of shares and a profit after tax of $2m in the period, a 99.6 percent drop compared to the same period last year (December 2022).
The firm says it also saw a $330m exceptional loss after tax following the devaluation of the Nigerian naira in June 2023 and the Malawian kwacha in November 2023 after the structural changes in their respective FX markets.
The Nigerian naira devalued further in Q3’24, resulting in a $140m derivative and foreign exchange losses net of tax, which is not treated as an exceptional item.
According to Olusegun Ogunsanya, Group chief executive officer, “We continue to see sustained, positive growth momentum across the business, despite the inflationary and currency headwinds. Demand remains resilient, highlighting the vital nature of the voice, data and mobile money services we provide to our customers across the region, and has resulted in a strong 20.2% constant currency revenue growth over the period, with an increase in EBITDA margins.”
Airtel Africa’s customer base grew by 9.1% to 151.2 million and its mobile data and mobile money services saw 22.4% increase in data customers to 62.7 million and a 19.5% increase in mobile money customers to 37.5 million. The firm’s mobile money transaction value increased by 41.3% in constant currency, with Q3’24 annualised transaction value of $116bn in reported currency.
Revenue in constant currency grew by 20.2%, with Q3’24 growth accelerating to 21.0%. Reported currency revenues declined by 1.4% to $3,861m. In Q3’24, reported currency revenues declined by 8.3% as currency devaluation (primarily the Nigerian naira devaluation) continued to impact reported revenue trends.
Across the Group mobile services revenue grew by 18.6% in constant currency, driven by voice revenue growth of 11.2% and data revenue growth of 28.5%. Mobile money revenue grew by 31.8% in constant currency.
The firm’s Board intends to launch a share buy-back programme of up to $100m, starting early March 2024 over a 12-month period.
| Alternative performance measures (APM) (Nine-month period ended) | |||||||||
| Description | Dec-23 | Dec-22 | Reported currency | Constant currency | |||||
| $m | $m | change | change | ||||||
| Revenue | 3,861 | 3,914 | (1.4%) | 20.2% | |||||
| EBITDA | 1,908 | 1,916 | (0.4%) | 21.9% | |||||
| EBITDA margin | 49.4% | 49.0% | 47 bps | 72 bps | |||||
| EPS before exceptional items ($ cents)2 | 7.1 | 10.8 | (34.6%) | ||||||
| Operating free cash flow | 1,414 | 1,459 | (3.1%) | ||||||
| GAAP measures (Nine-month period ended) | |||||||
| Description | Dec-23 | Dec-22 | Reported currency | ||||
| $m | $m | change | |||||
| Revenue | 3,861 | 3,914 | (1.4%) | ||||
| Operating profit | 1,293 | 1,318 | (1.9%) | ||||
| Profit after tax | 2 | 523 | (99.6%) | ||||
| Basic EPS ($ cents) | (1.6) | 12.5 | (112.9%) | ||||
| Net cash generated from operating activities | 1,766 | 1,711 | 3.2% | ||||