Airtel Nigeria Records $1.37bn Revenue, 41.8m Subscribers
Airtel Nigeria reported a revenue growth of 24.1 per cent to $1.37bn in the year ended March 31, 2020, up from $1.11bn reported a year earlier.
This growth, according to the company, is driven by 15.1 per cent voice revenue growth and 68.1 per cent in data revenue.
The company’s financial report released on Wednesday stated that Airtel Nigeria reported $850m voice revenue, $435m data revenue and other revenues from the telecom company amounted to $88m.
The telecom company said due to its efficient sales and distribution network supported by the accelerated rollout of network as well as 4G leadership, its customer base in Nigeria grew by 12.5 per cent to 41.8 million.
It explained that other revenues decreased by 17.2 per cent due to the rollout of new directives issued by the Nigerian Communications Commission on content-based revenue.
Across its markets in Africa, the company’s revenue increased by 11.2 per cent to $3.42bn driven by 5.2 per cent growth in voice revenue, 39 per cent increase in data revenue and 37.2 per cent growth in mobile money revenue.
Commenting on the financial report, the Chief Executive Officer, Airtel Africa, Raghunath Mandava, said it had expanded it network and achieved 65 per cent of sites on 4G network.
He said despite the impact of COVID-19 on the markets where it operated, its performance in April had been resilient as the business continued to deliver constant currency revenue growth.
He expressed optimism that the company would continue to benefit from population growth and the need for increased connectivity and financial inclusion in Nigeria and other markets where it operates in Africa.
He said, “These are a strong set of results, which delivered against our aspirations set out at the time of the IPO, with performance sequentially improving during the year.
“Revenue increased by 11.2 per cent, 13.8 per cent in constant currency, and underlying EBITDA by 13.8 per cent, 16.3 per cent in constant currency, to a reported $1,515m, underpinned by significant improvement in our free cash flow generation and reduced leverage.
“These results also demonstrate the strength and resilience of our business and the effectiveness of our strategy – with all three business services, voice, data and mobile money, contributing to revenue growth.
“We have also continued to invest in future growth opportunities as we expanded our distribution, modernised and expanded our network with 65 per cent of sites now on 4G, acquired new spectrum in Nigeria, Tanzania, Malawi and Chad, and entered into strategic partnerships in our mobile money business.
“Telecoms businesses provide strategically essential services to ensure the functioning of economies and communities and are, therefore, more resilient compared to some other sectors.”
The report said the company’s directors had also assessed the group’s ability to access adequate sources of funding, which includes financing facilities and access to the debt capital markets to further improve liquidity headroom availability.
