Airtel Africa delivers strong FY revenue and profit growth

Telecommunications provider Airtel Africa said on Wednesday that it had delivered continued strong revenue growth and increased profitability in the year ended 31 March.

Airtel's full-year reported revenue grew 14.2% to $3.90bn, with fourth-quarter reported revenue growth of 15.4% leading the way, while constant currency underlying revenue growth was 19.4% as growth was recorded across Nigeria, East Africa, and Francophone Africa.

Underlying earnings were $1.79bn, up 18.3% in reported currency and 25.2% in constant currency as full-year underlying EBITDA margins improved 181 basis points to 46.1%.

Airtel also stated operating profits had increased 24.2% to $1.11bn in reported currency, and by 32.8% in constant currency.

On the other hand, basic earnings per share were down 12.6% at $0.09, largely due to prior year exceptional items and a one-off derivative gain. Excluding these, basic restated earnings per share rose 44.5%.

The FTSE 250-listed group recommended a final dividend of $0.025 per share, making the total dividend for the 2021 trading year $0.04 per share.

Airtel added that its customer base grew by 6.9% to 118.2m, with increased penetration across mobile data and mobile money services, but did acknowledge a recent slowdown in customer base growth due to new SIM registration regulations in Nigeria.

As of 0830 BST, Airtel shares were up 1.73% at 79.25p.