Data, mobile money, voice services push Airtel revenue by 27.7%

GROWTH in data, voice and mobile money subscriptions have pushed Airtel’s revenue in Nigeria by 27.7 per cent with the group subsequently declaring $ 4.7 billion revenue.

Airtel, in its financial year report ended March 31, 2022, released yesterday, showed that its constant currency underlying revenue growth was strong in all regions with Nigeria up 27.7 per cent, East Africa up 22.7 per cent and Francophone Africa up 17.2 per cent; and across all key services.

It stressed that its revenue in voice was up 15.4 per cent, data up 34.6 per cent and mobile money up 34.9 per cent.

According to Airtel, its underlying EBITDA margin was 49.0 per cent. It increased by 294 basis points, while the operating profit grew by 37.2 per cent to $ 1.53 billion in reported currency.

The telecommunications firm said its profit after tax grew by 82 per cent to $ 755 million, with its basic earnings per share ( EPS) of 16.8 cents, an increase of 86.5 per cent.

The report showed that the operating free cash flow of $ 1.65 billion, up 40.5 per cent, with net cash generated from operating activities up 20.7 per cent to $ 2.01 billion. Airtel said over the last 12 months the business has repaid nearly $ 1.4 billion of debt at Holdco as a result of strong cash upstreaming across its Opcos and proceeds from minority investments in mobile money and tower sales.

It stressed that its leverage ratio improved to 1.3x from 2.0x in the prior year, with $ 1 billion of debt now held at Holdco ( FY’ 21: $ 2.4bn).

According to the firm, the customer base increased to 128.4 million, up 8.7 per cent, with increased penetration across mobile data ( customer base up 15.2 per cent) and mobile money services ( customer base up 20.7 per cent).

Airtel claimed that the NIN/ SIM regulations in Nigeria impacted customer growth in H1, but then returned to strong growth, adding four million customers in Nigeria during H2' 22.

On the trading update, Chief Executive Officer, Airtel Africa, Segun Ogunsanya, said: “This is another strong set of results for Airtel Africa, demonstrating our solid execution as we continue to enrich the lives of a growing number of people through leveraging the sizeable opportunity to promote digital and financial inclusion across our markets.