Airtel Africa Share News (AAF)

(Sharecast News) - Telecommunications provider Airtel Africa said on Wednesday that it had delivered continued strong revenue growth and increased profitability in the year ended 31 March.
Airtel's full-year reported revenue grew 14.2% to $3.90bn, with fourth-quarter reported revenue growth of 15.4% leading the way, while constant currency underlying revenue growth was 19.4% as growth was recorded across Nigeria, East Africa, and Francophone Africa.

Underlying earnings were $1.79bn, up 18.3% in reported currency and 25.2% in constant currency as full-year underlying EBITDA margins improved 181 basis points to 46.1%.

Airtel also stated operating profits had increased 24.2% to $1.11bn in reported currency, and by 32.8% in constant currency.

On the other hand, basic earnings per share were down 12.6% at $0.09, largely due to prior year exceptional items and a one-off derivative gain. Excluding these, basic restated earnings per share rose 44.5%.

The FTSE 250-listed group recommended a final dividend of $0.025 per share, making the total dividend for the 2021 trading year $0.04 per share.

Airtel added that its customer base grew by 6.9% to 118.2m, with increased penetration across mobile data and mobile money services, but did acknowledge a recent slowdown in customer base growth due to new SIM registration regulations in Nigeria.

As of 0830 BST, Airtel shares were up 1.73% at 79.25p.