Airtel Africa Reports 20.4% Revenue Growth, Data Usage Surges 32.3%

 Airtel Africa Plc has reported a 20.4 percent growth in revenue to $3,638 million for the nine-month ended Dec. 31, 2024.

Airtel Africa said this in a report on Thursday.

It said the total customer base grew by 7.9 percent to 163.1 million, with data customer penetration increasing by 13.8 percent to 71.4 million.

According to Airtel Africa, data usage per customer increased by 32.3 percent to 6.9 GBs, with smartphone penetration increasing by 5.2 percent to reach 44.2 percent.

The report said the company’s mobile money subscribers also increased by 18.3 percent to 44.3 million, with transaction value in the third quarter increasing by 33.3 percent in constant currency.

It said the annualized transaction value was $146 billion, with Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) growth of 15.0 percent and mobile money ARPU growth of 11.8 percent in constant currency.

“Airtel Africa’s Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortisation (EBITDA) during the period declined by 11.9 percent in reported currency to $1,681 million, with EBITDA margins of 46.2 percent impacted by increased fuel prices and the lower contribution of Nigeria to the group.

“The company’s capital expenditure decreased by 7.8 percent to $456 million, with capex guidance for the full year remaining between $725 million and $750 million.

“Airtel Africa’s leverage has increased from 1.3x to 2.4x primarily reflecting the 1.2 billion dollars increase in lease liabilities arising from the extension of its tower lease agreements, the report said.

It noted that Airtel Africa’s Operating Company debt was now mostly in local currency, with only 8 percent denominated in foreign currency.

Commenting, Airtel Africa’s Chief Executive Officer,  Mr Sunil Taldar said: “We have delivered an improvement in both the operating and financial performance in the last quarter driven by our refined strategy.

“Our focus on speed and quality execution is enabling us to unlock the substantial opportunities for growth across our markets and business segments, where demand remains significant.

“The scale of data traffic growth across our markets had an increase of 49 percent over the last year, which is a testament to the investments we have made and the relentless focus on our strategy to create value for all our stakeholders.

“We continue to focus on further margin improvement. Furthermore, our capital structure remains robust with just 8 percent of OpCo debt in foreign currency, a substantial improvement over the last year,” Taldar said.

He noted that continued confidence in the outlook for the business had enabled the board to announce a second share buyback program, which will return up to $100 million to shareholders.

“The recent signs of currency stabilization in some markets and the recent decision from the Nigerian Communications Commission regarding tariff adjustments in Nigeria are encouraging and signal a more stable operating environment.

“While challenges remain, these developments provide a firm foundation for growth and improved market conditions,” Taldar said. (NAN)