Airtel Africa reports growth in revenue, customer base in Q1 2019 results

Airtel Africa on Thursday declared that its customer base grew by 9.3 per cent to 99.7 million in the first quarter of 2019.

Details of the growth are contained in the telecommunication company’s first quarter 2019 results, posted on the website of the Nigeria Stock Exchange.

According to the report, at the end of the quarter ended June 30, the company’s revenue increased to $795.9 million, up 6.9 per cent, with constant currency growth of 10.2 per cent.

Details showed that this was the 6th consecutive quarter of double-digit constant currency growth recorded by the company.

Similarly, revenue growth of 10.2 per cent in constant currency was driven by double-digit growth in Nigeria and East Africa, although this was partially offset by a decline in revenue in the rest of Africa where the company operates.

Growth was equally recorded across business products as constant currency revenue in voice increased by 3.2 per cent, data revenue by 35.9 per cent and mobile money by 41.8 per cent.

The company’s reported underlying EBITDA was $347.6 million, up 9.7 per cent, while constant currency underlying EBITDA growth was 12.8 per cent. Similarly, the underlying EBITDA margin in reported currency was 43.7 per cent, an increase of 111 bps, while there was an increase of 101 bps in constant currency terms.

In accounting and finance, EBITDA refers to earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization and it is a measure of a company’s operating performance. It is simply a way to evaluate a company’s performance without having to factor in financing decisions, accounting decisions or tax environments.

Airtel Africa’s free cash flow for the period under review was $102.4 million, down 29.2 per cent. The company attributed it to increased capex for network modernization and rollout of additional sites