Airtel Africa Reports Double-Digit Revenue Growth in First Half of the Year
Airtel Africa has reported a double digit growth in it’s half-year financial report for the period ending 30th September 2022, showing a 12.9% revenue growth to $2.57 billion.
Segun Ogunsanya, chief executive officer, on the trading update:
“Airtel Africa continued to deliver strong results as its purpose of transforming the lives of people across sub-Saharan Africa through digital and financial inclusion gained further momentum, with growth accelerating in the second quarter. Whilst we are not immune to the current macro-economic challenges and currency devaluation risks, I am pleased to report double-digit reported revenue growth in the period, largely driven by customer growth of 9.7% and ARPU growth of 7.2%, as we increased penetration and usage through our affordable service offerings. Our cost efficiency initiatives combined with improving growth trends have also helped offset inflationary pressures on our cost base and expand our EBITDA margin by 38bps in constant currency. We continue to de-risk our balance sheet and have further reduced HoldCo debt with the early repayment of $450m of bond in July.
He added, “We continue to invest for growth and have increased capital expenditure by 27% over the period, alongside a substantial investment into additional spectrum across several markets.
Following the receipt of the Payment Service Bank and Super-Agent licence in Nigeria during the period, we have launched our mobile money operations. We are excited about the opportunity in our biggest market and will continue to build trust and confidence in the brand, whilst investing in distribution to increase access to financial services for underserved communities within the country.
“Today we have also published our inaugural sustainability report. The report provides a detailed review of our sustainability strategy that underpins our corporate purpose and sets out our achievements to date and our focus for the future.
“Overall these results continue to demonstrate the effectiveness of our strategy, sound execution, and the resilience of our business despite the uncertain macro-economic environment. For the remainder of the financial year, we anticipate sustained growth in the business, alongside EBITDA margin resilience.”