Airtel’s total loss in East Africa amounted to $46.5 million (KSh4.8 billion) in the last financial year. A massive chunk of the loss stems from losses in its Kenyan subsidiary. Airtel Uganda is the only profitable business of Bharti Airtel in East Africa. The Ugandan business has shown positive growth despite the Telco’s poor performance in Kenya and Tanzania.
Last year, the Telco’s Tanzanian subsidiary recorded a loss of $15.94 million from $47.1 million net loss in 2017. On the other hand, Airtel Kenya posted a loss of $27.43 million, an improvement from $59.5 million loss in 2017. However, Airtel Uganda’s 2018 profits grew by 38% from $65.6 million in 2017 to $90.5 million. Part of such stellar performance comes from its rising market share.
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While Tanzania’s losses in the past year narrowed by $31.16 million, its liquidity rations are still wanting. Dar es salaam’s total losses since the start of the business have accumulated to $436.6 million. Furthermore, Airtel’s Tanzania shows a negative asset balance with 2018 current ratio at 0.3. The subsidiary has current assets worth $211.8 million against liabilities of $625.7 million. Worse still, it’s market share sank from 27% in 2017 to 25% in 2018.
Light at the end of the tunnel for Airtel
Airtel has a had time penetrating the East African Telecom market, thanks to the dominance of Vodafone and its subsidiaries. In Kenya, Airtel has a market share of 39% compared to Safaricom’s 56.8% as of Q2 2019. Such performance is an improvement from 25% in 2017 and 35.8% in Q1 2019. Its ongoing merger with Telkom will improve Airtel’s market share in Kenya.
