Airtel Africa’s revenue has been on the rise, but unfortunately, its profit margin faced a 5% decline during the first quarter of this year.
The telecom, while acknowledging this setback, points to the tough operating conditions and concerns about currency devaluation as the primary culprits.
The telco’s revenue grew by 11.5% to $5.25 million in Q1 2023, compared to $4.71 million in the same period in 2022.
On the other hand, Airtel’s profit after tax (PAT) for the period under review dropped by 0.6% to $750 million, compared to $755 million during the same period in 2022.
Airtel Africa blames the devaluation of currencies in the countries they operate in for its lower financial performance. But that’s not the only hurdle they’ve had to jump over in their quest for regional growth. Many subscribers got their SIM cards blocked because they haven’t connected their National Identification Number (NIN).
Airtel Africa reported that as of March 2023, 6.4 million customers had submitted their NINs, while 3.5 million customers had completed the verification process and had their services restored.
The company’s financial statement revealed a revenue loss of $110 million during the reviewed period due to this crackdown, resulting in a slowdown of revenue growth by approximately 2.4% at the Group level.
