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Airtel Africa on Friday reported a net profit of $88 million for the second quarter ended September 30, down nine per cent year-on-year (YoY) compared with $96 million in the corresponding period last year, due to higher expenses.
However, revenue of the Bharti Airtel’s subsidiary grew 14 per cent YoY to $965 million during the quarter ($844 million).
The company’s board declared an interim dividend of $1.5 per share in line with the new progressive dividend policy to focus on growth opportunities and faster deleveraging, the company said.
“In these exceptional circumstances, in the first half, we delivered a strong set of results and as lockdown restrictions eased during the second quarter, our performance continued to improve with constant currency revenue growth of 19.6 per cent, up 6.6 per cent from the prior quarter,” Raghunath Mandava, Chief Executive Officer, Airtel Africa, said.
In the second quarter, performance in the mobile money business also significantly improved with constant currency revenue growth of 34 per cent up eight per cent from the prior quarter, as lockdown restrictions were eased and fees on certain transactions, which had been previously waived, were largely reintroduced, he said.
“Importantly, the fundamentals of our business remain strong and revenue growth further benefited from the execution of our strategy with a specific focus on expanding distribution in the rural areas, investing in our network and increasing 4G coverage, as well as benefiting from the fact we provide an essential service to consumers,” Mandava said.
He said the company remains alert to the potential for further disruptions from a second wave of Covid-19 across Africa, and the associated actions of governments to minimise contagion.
“Nevertheless, 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. We remain confident of delivering long term sustained growth for our shareholders,” he added.
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