Nigeria’s second-largest telecom operator, Airtel Africa Plc, has disclosed a loss after tax of $89m for its full year ending March 2024, attributing the downturn to a substantial foreign exchange loss of $549m.
The telco said in its report released on Thursday that the loss was triggered by the devaluations of the Nigerian naira in June 2023 and the Malawian kwacha in November 2023.
The company, which operates in 14 African countries, reported that the foreign exchange losses had severely impacted its quarterly earnings.
“Loss after tax was $89m, primarily impacted by significant foreign exchange headwinds, resulting in a $549m exceptional loss net of tax following the Nigerian naira devaluation in June 2023 and the Malawian kwacha devaluation in November 2023,” the report stated.
The company witnessed growth in constant currency revenue, marking an increase of 20.9 percent for the full year, with growth accelerating to 23.1 per cent in Q4’23.
Nigerian constant currency revenue reached 34.2 per cent growth in Q4’23 despite challenging conditions. However, reported currency revenues saw a decline of 5.3 per cent to $4,979m, primarily due to the impact of currency devaluation, particularly in Nigeria.
The Chief Executive Officer of Airtel Africa, Olusegun Ogunsanya, stated, “Facilitating this growth has been and will remain fundamental to our performance. The investment in our distribution to catalyse growth and the technology required to support this growth have 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,” part of his comments on the report stated.
Other highlights in the report include that the total customer base grew by 9.0 percent to 152.7 million.
The company said it will continue to bridge the digital divide with a 17.8 percent increase in data customers to 64.4 million and a 20.8 percent increase in data usage per customer.
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.
Meanwhile, the management of the company will host an analyst and investor conference call at 1:00 p.m. UK time (BST) on Thursday, May 9, 2024, including a question-and-answer session.
