25th Jul 2024 10:34
(Alliance News) - Airtel Africa PLC on Thursday announced that it retains its "momentum" despite a significant decrease in revenue in its first financial quarter.
Airtel Africa is an Africa-focused telecommunications and mobile money services provider.
Airtel Africa reported a 16% decrease in revenue to USD1.16 billion in the quarter that ended June 30 from USD1.38 billion a year before. However, on a constant currency basis, revenue was up 19%.
Airtel Africa said its quarterly earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation decreased by 23% to USD523 million from USD682 million a year before.
The firm attributed these results to an increase in fuel prices and currency devaluation, particularly in Nigeria.
More positively, Airtel Africa announced that its quarterly pretax profit was USD74 million, swung from a USD221 million loss a year before.
Additionally, the firm reported an 8.6% increase in its customer base to 155.4 million in the last three months.
Airtel noted that it continued its share buyback programme during the quarter. The firm has now purchased 21 million shares for a consideration of USD29 million.
Looking forward, Chief Executive Officer Sunil Taldar said: "The growth opportunity across our markets remains compelling, and we continue to focus on margin improvement as indicated in our [financial year 2024] results".
Airtel Africa shares were down 8.5% to 105.42 pence per share in London on Thursday morning.
By Lydia Doye, Alliance News reporter
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