Airtel Africa has released its financial results for the year ended 31 March 2023, which show double-digit revenue growth of 11.5% and a resilient margin.
This information disclosure was in a corporate disclosure report by Airtel Africa seen on the NGX website by Rate Captain.
The company’s total customer base grew by 9% to 140 million, driven by a 16.9% increase in data customers to 54.6 million and a 20.4% increase in mobile money customers to 31.5 million. Mobile money transaction value increased by 41.3%, with annualized transaction value exceeding $102bn in Q4’23. Revenue in constant currency grew by 17.6%, with revenues growing by 11.5% to $5,255m in reported currency.
Mobile service revenue grew by 16.2% in constant currency, driven by voice revenue growth of 11.8% and data revenue growth of 23.8%, while mobile money revenue grew by 29.6% in constant currency. Underlying EBITDA increased by 17.3% in constant currency and 11.4% in reported currency to $2,575m, with an underlying EBITDA margin of 49.0%. Airtel Africa’s capex increased by 14.0% to $748m as the company continued to invest for future growth. Mobile services and mobile money services combined recorded growth of 20.3%, 17.4%, and 12.7% respectively in Nigeria, East Africa, and Francophone Africa.
The company recorded double-digit revenue growth in voice and data revenue, while mobile money revenue grew by 29.6% in constant currency, driven by 32.6% growth in East Africa and 20.3% growth in Francophone Africa. Operating profit increased by 14.5% in reported currency to $1,757m, while net finance costs were $723m, up $320m due to higher foreign exchange and derivative losses. Despite $500m spectrum investment, leverage remained stable at 1.4x in March 2023.
The board has recommended a final dividend of 3.27 cents per share, making the total dividend for FY’23 5.45 cents per share, an increase of 9%. The company’s inaugural Sustainability Report, published in October 2022, reflected its commitment to sustainability and detailed progress against long-term goals as outlined in its sustainability strategy. The company’s ambition to achieve net-zero by 2050 has progressed, with detailed plans to achieve over 60% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions intensity by 2032.
