Airtel Africa has released its financial results for the quarter ended (QE) and year-ended March 2024. The company reported a net loss of $91 million for the fourth quarter (Q4) of the fiscal year 2023-24 (FY24), stung by significant foreign exchange headwinds amid currency devaluation in Nigeria and Malawi, and fall in revenue.
For the year ended March 31, 2024, the company posted a loss of $89 million while the company registered a profit of $750 million.
The company’s revenue for QE March 2024 fell 17 per cent year-on-year (YoY), and 16.6 per cent sequentially, to $1.11 billion due to the impact of currency devaluation, particularly in Nigeria. Additionally, net finance cost for the March quarter stood at $142 million, lower by 30 per cent YoY and around 60 per cent sequentially. Further, the total net finance costs for FY24 jumped 24 per cent YoY to $896 million.
In addition, the annual revenue of the company declined by 5.3 per cent to $4,979 million during the reported fiscal from $5,255 million in FY23. Also, the annual revenue was 20.9 per cent higher on a constant currency basis.
Further, Airtel Africa’s average revenue per user (ARPU) remained unchanged at $2.6 sequentially, but rose 11.1 per cent yearly. Meanwhile, the company’s data revenue increased 6.7 per cent sequentially and 31.1 per cent YoY to $492 million, and the net debt in the Q4 was up 6.8 per cent sequentially, to $3.5 billion.
The mobile services revenue at the group level grew by 19.4 per cent in constant currency, driven by voice revenue growth of 11.9 per cent and data revenue growth of 29.2 per cent. Moreover, Mobile money revenue grew by 32.8 per cent in constant currency, with a strong performance in East Africa.
According to a statement, the company’s board has approved a share buyback programme of up to $100 million over a period of 12 months. The company purchased 7.4 million shares for a total consideration of $9 million in March 2024.
Furthermore, the total customer base of Airtel Africa grew by 9 per cent to 152.7 million on a YoY basis., and the data customers of the company grew by 17.8 per cent to 64.4 million on a YoY basis from 54.6 million a year ago.
