Currency movements hit Airtel Africa profits

(Sharecast News) - Airtel Africa reported revenue growth of 11.5% in its full-year results on Thursday, to $5.26bn in reported currency. However, when considering constant currency, Airtel's revenue growth stood at 17.6%.

The FTSE 250 company said growth was observed across all segments in the 12 months ended 31 March, with mobile service revenue growing 16.2% in constant currency, driven by an 11.8% increase in voice revenue and a 23.8% uptick in data revenue.

Mobile money revenue also saw substantial growth of 29.6% in constant currency.

Underlying EBITDA was 17.3% firmer at constant currency and 11.4% on a reported basis, reaching $2.58bn.

Airtel's underlying EBITDA margin stood at 49%, while profit after tax was down $5m at $750m.

The board put the decrease down to higher foreign exchange and derivative losses, amounting to $245m.

Basic earnings per share were 5.2% firmer at 17.7 cents, with the growth primarily driven by higher operating profits and exceptional items gains on deferred tax credit recognition in Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and Tanzania.

However, earnings per share before exceptional items were down 15% to 13.6 cents, mainly due to higher foreign exchange and derivative losses.

Excluding foreign exchange and derivative losses, earnings per share before exceptional items were ahead 13.4% at 20.6 cents.

Looking at its key operating performance indicators, Airtel Africa's total customer base expanded 9% to 140 million customers.

The board said that growth was propelled by increasing adoption of mobile data and mobile money services, leading to a 16.9% increase in data customers to 54.6 million, and a 20.4% increase in mobile money customers to 31.5 million.

It said average revenue per user grew by 7.4% in constant currency, driven by increased usage across voice, data, and mobile money

In line with its progressive dividend policy, the Airtel Africa board recommended a final dividend of 3.27 cents per share.

That would bring the total dividend for the 2023 financial year to 5.45 cents per share, representing a 9% increase.

"Our six-pillar strategy continues to provide the basis for stakeholder value creation by facilitating continued expansion of our services to enhance both digital and financial inclusion across Africa," said chief executive officer Olusegun Ogunsanya.

"This strategy will continue and will be underpinned by our sustainability strategy as articulated in our sustainability report published in October.

"The macro-economic outlook remains volatile, but we are well positioned to deliver against the growth opportunities these markets offer, with a continued focus on margin resilience."

At 0900 BST, shares in Airtel Africa were down 5.51% at 111.5p.

Reporting by Josh Whitie for Sharecast.com.