Airtel Africa recorded double-digit revenue in the past 9 months and increase in market penetration
Strong execution continues to deliver double-digit revenue and EBITDA growth despite a challenging macro-environment. Airtel Africa reported a reduced profit of $801 million in the past nine months, down from $864 million in the previous year. Despite growing its customer base and revenue, expenses increased and net finance costs jumped, leading to a decline in gross profit.
Segun Ogunsanya, chief executive officer, on the trading update: “Providing affordable, innovative and essential services to customers in our 14 markets with unparalleled network quality and customer service is integral to our ambition of transforming lives across Africa. These strong results are testament to this strategy despite the current macro-economic and geopolitical uncertainties. The execution of our six-pillar strategy continues to provide the foundation for growth, driving 10% customer growth, supported by 14% growth in data customers and over 22% growth in mobile money customers. Higher usage across voice, data and money, have contributed to further ARPU growth of over 7%, resulting in 18% revenue growth in the quarter as penetration across each segment continues to increase.''
''I am particularly excited by the performance of our mobile money business, with annualized transaction value reaching nearly $100bn, as we continue to drive financial inclusion in the continent. Despite the inflationary pressures across our markets, the strong revenue performance in the first nine months of the year, combined with continued focus on cost optimisation, contributed to EBITDA growth of over 17% in constant currency, with stable EBITDA margins'': Segun Ogunsanya added.
Airtel Africa operating performance, combined with continued focus on capital allocation priorities has facilitated the de-risking of campany's balance sheet with the early repayment of $450m HoldCo debt in July this year. Airtel will continue to invest in expanding their network and evolving the service offerings to further deepen both financial and digital inclusion across our markets.
Particularly Airtel focussed on enhancing our spectrum footprint across all the markets. Over the last nine months the Company has spent almost $490m on 4G and 5G spectrum across key markets to improve network capacity and quality, future-proof the company for continued growth opportunities and facilitate economic progress in all markets.
''I am particularly pleased with these results which demonstrate the opportunities these markets offer, our ability to deliver against these opportunities and the contribution we make to local communities and economies across our footprint. For the remainder of the financial year. we continue to anticipate sustained growth in the business with continued EBITDA margin resilience “ : Segun Ogunsanya, chief executive officer concluded.
