Airtel Africa records double-digit growth for H1 2020

Airtel Africa has announced that they have seen a 12.0% to 116.4 million, with revenue on reported basis increasing by 10.7% to $1,815m, with Q2 revenue growth of 14.3% . This is according to their half-yearly results for the period ended 30 September 2020.
The results for the six months ended 30 September 2020 are unaudited and in the opinion of management, include all adjustments necessary for the fair presentation of the results of the same period, the company says.
They add that revenue growth in constant currency was 16.4% in H1, and 19.6% in Q2. “Growth was recorded across all regions: Nigeria up 20.2%, East Africa up 21.9% and Francophone Africa up 4.4%, with voice revenue up by 7.0%, data by 33.4% and mobile money by 30.4%. ”
Airtel Africa is a provider of telecommunications and mobile money services, with a presence in 14 countries in Africa, primarily in East Africa and Central and West Africa. The company offers an integrated suite of telecoms solutions to its subscribers, including mobile voice and data services as well as mobile money services, both nationally and internationally.
Airtel Africa says the underlying EBITDA increased 12.8% to $812m, while constant currency underlying EBITDA growth was 19.3% . The reported underlying EBITDA margin was 44.7%,, up by 85 bps (110 bps in constant currency) in this period.
Operating profit increased by 19.5% to $472m, an increase of 28.3% in constant currency, while free cash flow was $319m compared to $210m in the same period last year.
Contributing elements that had impact
Giving a trading update, Airtel Africa CEO Raghunath Mandava said: “The first half of our fiscal year included the peak impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the countries where we operate, as lockdown measures were swiftly implemented to stem the initial spread of contagion.
In these unprecedented times, the telecoms industry has emerged as a key and essential service for these economies, allowing customers to work remotely, reduce their travels, keep them connected and allow access to affordable entertainment.
In these exceptional circumstances, in the first half, we delivered a strong set of results and as lockdown restrictions eased during Q2 our performance continued to improve with constant currency revenue growth of 19.6%, up 6.6% from the prior quarter. “
Mandava adds that more importantly, the fundamentals of our business remain strong and revenue growth further benefitted from the execution of their strategy with a specific focus on expanding distribution in the rural areas, investing in their network and increasing 4G coverage, as well as benefitting from the fact they provide an essential service to consumers.
He notes that in Q2, performance in Airtel Africa’s mobile money business also significantly improved with constant currency revenue growth of 33.9%, up 8% from Q1, as lockdown restrictions were eased and fees on certain transactions, which had been previously waived, were largely reintroduced. Airtel Africa also continued to form strong partnerships with institutions such as WorldRemit, MoneyGram, Standard Chartered Bank, and Mukuru to increase use cases and improve customers’ access to digital payments and financial services, he says.
“We are in a strong financial position to capture the opportunities in a fast-growing region that is vastly under penetrated in terms of mobile and banking services.”