Airtel Africa’s revenue growth in Q1 2021 surpassed analysts’ expectations recording 13% yoy jump despite the challenges posed by the ongoing pandemic. The solid growth was mainly supported by strong revenue numbers in the Nigerian and East African markets.
In Nigeria, the telecommunications firm posted a revenue and EBITDA growth of 17% yoy in the first quarter, way above the 10% projected growth rate by Citi analysts. Voice and data revenue improved by 7% and 40% yoy in the period under review.
In the East African region, Airtel Africa posted a significant increase in revenue from data and mobile money business segments. The firm’s revenue increased by 17.5% yoy in Q1 2021 supported by strong growth in data consumption and a small increase in mobile money revenue. The growth in mobile money revenue was unexpected, given the fee waiver recently introduced in most East African nations.
Airtel Africa posted a 2.2% revenue growth in the rest of Africa in the period under review. The other African nations also registered significant improvement in data consumption resulting in improved revenue.
According to researchers at Citi, Airtel Africa produced a strong set of results in the quarter that ended on 30th June 2020, better than the analysts expected.
Even with the impressive financial performance, Citi rates the telecommunications firm as High Risk due to its short trading history and relatively high foreign debt. According to Citi Research, the company faces several risks such as; changes in economic trends, barriers of entry to African markets, competitive risk and regulatory risk.
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