Airtel Africa Q4 Results: Net loss at $91 million on forex woes

Revenue for the quarter ended March 2024 fell 17% year-on-year, and 16.6% sequentially, to $1.11 billion due to the impact of currency devaluation, particularly in Nigeria.

Net for the March quarter at $142 million, was lower by 30% on-year and around 60% sequentially. Total net finance costs for FY24 jumped 24% year-on-year to $896 million.

“The consistent deployment of our ‘Win with’ strategy supported the acceleration in constant currency revenue growth over the recent quarters which has reduced the impact of currency headwinds faced across most of our markets. This strong revenue performance is a reflection not only of the opportunity that is inherent across our markets, but also the resilience of our affordable offerings despite the inflationary pressure many of our customers have experienced,” said Olusegun Ogunsanya, Chief executive officer, Airtel Africa, in a statement.

He added that the rigorous approach to de-risking its balance sheet and its capital allocation priorities has materially reduced the risks that the currency de-valuation has had on its business, including reduction of US dollar debt across the business and accumulation of cash at the HoldCo level to fully cover the outstanding debt due.

“The growth opportunity that exists across our markets remains compelling, and we are well positioned to deliver against this opportunity. We will continue to focus on margin improvement from the recent level as we progress through the year,” the executive said.

Airtel Africa’s (average revenue per user), a key performance metric, remained unchanged at $2.6 sequentially, but rose 11.1% yearly. The across its 14 markets rose 1% sequentially and 9% on-year to 152.7 million.

increased 6.7% sequentially and 31.1% on-year to $492 million.

Net debt in the fiscal fourth quarter was up 6.8% sequentially, to $3.5 billion.