Airtel Posts $89m Net Loss on Foreign Exchange Volatility

The devaluation of the currency by the central bank that seeks to stabilise the foreign exchange market has dealt a great blow to Airtel Africa Plc as the telecommunications giant accumulated foreign exchange losses.

Capitulating to macroeconomic headwinds, Airtel Africa posted a loss after tax of $89 million for the year ended March 2024, from a profit of $750 million as at the year ended March 2023.

The deteriorating bottom line was brought on by a $549 million 0n exceptional loss net of tax following the Nigerian naira devaluation in June 2023 and Q4 ’24, and the Malawian kwacha devaluation in November 2023.

Total revenue declined by 20.90 percent in constant currency change to $4.97 billion in the period under review from $5.25 million the previous year.

“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.

Telcocos firms have been hard hit by a weak currency and inflationary pressures on the heels of president Bola Tinbu’s bold reforms as the Naira has weakened more than 70 percent since June last year when it traded at N461/$.

However, Airtel African continues to magnify its customer base, taking advantage of the country’s growing young population that crave for data usage.

Total customer base grew by 9.0 percent to 152.7 million as the company continues to bridge the digital divide with a 17.8 percent increase in data customers to 64.4 million and a 20.8 percent increase in data usage per customer.

Mobile money subscriber growth of 20.7 percent reflects Airtel’s continued investment into distribution to drive increased financial inclusion across our markets. Transaction value increased 38.2 percent in constant currency with annual transaction value of over $112 billion in reported currency.

“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 of Airtel Africa.

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