Airtel Africa, a leading provider of telecommunications and mobile money services in Africa, has reported a net profit of KSh44.5 billion ($415 million) for the year that ended on 31st March 2021, an improvement from the KSh43.7 billion ($408 million) net profit posted in March 2020.
The company’s underlying revenue grew to KSh416.4 billion ($3.89 billion) from KSh366.7 billion ($3.422 billion) the previous year, mainly driven by increased spending among customers and a 6.9% growth in customer numbers to 118.2 million users throughout the continent.
Airtel Africa registered double-digit revenue growth across all its service segments with mobile money revenue up 35.5%, data revenue up 31.2%, and voice revenue up 11.0%. The telecommunications company also recorded revenue growth across all the regions it operates in. According to the firm’s financial report, East Africa posted the biggest revenue growth at 23.5%, followed by Nigeria at 21.9%, and Francophone Africa at 10%.
Airtel Africa still heavily relies on voice revenue as its main source of income. In the financial year that ended on 31st March 2021, voice revenue contributed 53.6% of the firm’s total revenue while data and mobile money services contributed 29.8% and 10.3% of the total revenue respectively.
The telco plans to increase its investments in the 4G network in order to provide fast internet connectivity to its clients. “The Group’s strategy is to invest in our network by expanding 4G coverage and building capacity to cater for the future needs of our customers and to continue providing them with high-speed data,” said the company.
Airtel’s operating expenses jumped to KSh225.9 billion ($2.107 billion) at the end of March 2021 from KSh206.3 billion ($1.924 billion) the previous year, after it rolled out 1,400 new sites throughout the continent.
Airtel’s board of directors recommend a final dividend payment of $0.025 per ordinary share to be paid to investors on the company’s register at the close of business on 25 June 2021.
Also read: Airtel Africa H1 2020 Revenues Up 16.4%
