Airtel Africa has reported a profit of $31 million for the first quarter of 2024, reversing a $151 million loss from last year.
The telecom giant, operating in 14 African countries, managed this turnaround despite persistent macroeconomic challenges, including currency devaluation and rising fuel costs in Nigeria.
The company’s revenue for the June 30, 2024 quarter decreased by 16.1% year-on-year to $1.15 billion. This decline was driven by adverse economic conditions in its major markets. To counteract these pressures, Airtel Africa plans to implement cost-reduction measures and energy-saving initiatives to reduce network expenses.
The firm saw substantial growth in its mobile money and data services. Mobile money customers increased by 14.9% to 39.5 million, while data customers grew by 13.4% to 64.4 million. Revenue from data services reached $409 million, and voice revenue was $476 million. Additionally, mobile money revenue rose to $22 million, with significant performance improvements in East Africa and Francophone Africa.
Airtel Africa’s overall customer base expanded to 155.4 million, supported by the company’s investment in infrastructure, including laying over 5,600 km of fibre cables. Despite these positive developments, the company’s share price fell by 10% in pre-market trading ahead of its Q1 earnings call scheduled for Thursday.
New CEO Sunil Taldar, who took over from Olusegun Ogunsanya in June 2024, highlighted the company’s focus on growth in the enterprise, fibre, and data centre sectors. In March 2024, Airtel Africa began working on a new data centre, which is expected to be operational by Q1 2026. Taldar emphasized that finding new expansion opportunities, particularly in data and enterprise services, remains a crucial priority for the company.
