Nigeria's second-biggest telecom company, Airtel Africa Plc, has announced a $89m loss after tax for the year ending March 2024, stating it was caused by a significant foreign exchange loss of $549m.
According to the company's report released on Thursday, the loss was caused by the devaluations of the Nigerian naira in June 2023 and the Malawian kwacha in November 2023.
The telecom company, which operates in 14 African nations, revealed that the foreign exchange losses had a considerable impact on its quarterly earnings.
The report stated, "The loss after tax was $89m, mainly influenced by significant foreign exchange challenges, resulting in a $549m exceptional loss net of tax following the devaluation of the Nigerian naira in June 2023 and the Malawian kwacha in November 2023."
The company saw a 20.9% increase in constant currency revenue for the full year, with growth accelerating to 23.1% in Q4'23.
In Q4'23, Nigerian constant currency revenue experienced a 34.2% growth despite difficult conditions. However, reported currency revenues declined by 5.3% to $4,979m, mainly due to the impact of currency devaluation, especially in Nigeria.
Airtel Africa's CEO, Olusegun Ogunsanya, expressed, "Driving this growth has been and will continue to be essential to our performance. The investment in our distribution to fuel growth and the technology needed to support this growth have been crucial."
Part of his comments on the report stated, "Furthermore, our thorough approach to reducing the risks on our balance sheet and our capital allocation priorities has significantly lessened the impact of currency devaluation on our business."
Other notable points in the report include a 9.0% growth in the total customer base, reaching 152.7 million.
The company revealed it will continue to narrow the digital gap with a 17.8% increase in data customers to 64.4 million and a 20.8% increase in data usage per customer.
In constant currency, mobile services revenue across the group grew by 19.4%, driven by 11.9% growth in voice revenue and 29.2% growth in data revenue.
Mobile Money revenue increased by 32.8% in constant currency, with sustained strong performance in East Africa.
The company's management will host an analyst and investor conference call at 1:00 p.m. UK time (BST) on Thursday, May 9, 2024, including a question-and-answer session.
