By Ibiyemi Mathew
Airtel Africa Plc has recorded 9.7 per cent growth in her customer base for her half year result ended 30 September 2022.
Total customer base increased to 134.7 million compared to 4 per cent growth of 122.7 million in the half year results for 2021.
The results also revealed increased penetration across mobile data (customer base up 10.6 per cent) and mobile money services (customer base up 24.0 per cent).
Segun Ogunsanya, Chief Executive Officer, commenting on the results said, “Airtel Africa continued to deliver strong results as its purpose of transforming the lives of people across sub-Saharan Africa through digital and financial inclusion gained further momentum, with growth accelerating in the second quarter.
“Whilst we are not immune to the current macro-economic challenges and currency devaluation risks, I am pleased to report double-digit reported revenue growth in the period, largely driven by customer growth of 9.7 per cent and ARPU growth of 7.2 per cent, as we increased penetration and usage through our affordable service offerings.
“Overall these results continue to demonstrate the effectiveness of our strategy, sound execution, and the resilience of our business despite the uncertain macro-economic environment. For the remainder of the financial year, we anticipate sustained growth in the business, alongside EBITDA margin resilience,” Ogunsanya said.
Addressing how the company has surfed through through the difficult economic climes, Ogusanya noted, “our cost efficiency initiatives combined with improving growth trends have also helped offset inflationary pressures on our cost base and expand our EBITDA margin by 38bps in constant currency.
“We continue to de-risk our balance sheet and have further reduced HoldCo debt with the early repayment of $450m of bond in July.
“We continue to invest for growth and have increased capital expenditure by 27 per cent over the period, alongside a substantial investment into additional spectrum across several markets.”