After a difficult 2023 in which losses mounted after currency devaluation in some of its key markets, Airtel Africa returned to the blue in the first quarter of 2024. The telecoms firm, which operates in 14 African countries, reported $31 million in profit after tax, compared to a loss of $151 million in Q1 2023.

Still, macroeconomic headwinds persist. The company’s revenue declined 16.1% to $1.15 billion due to currency devaluation and rising fuel costs in Nigeria. The telco will work on cost reduction and energy-saving initiatives to reduce network costs. 

 Key takeaways:

Airtel Africa reported revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter ended 30 June 2024

It gained $31 million in profits, up 120% 

Mobile money customers grew 14.9% to 39.5 million

Its strong bottom line was driven by data and mobile money services revenue, which increased Average Revenue per User (ARPU). Data customers grew 13.4% to 64.4 million, while mobile money users in the telco’s East, Central, and West Africa segments increased to 39 million.  

Data revenue grew to $409 million, and voice revenue to $476 million. Mobile money revenue grew to $22 million,  with a continued strong performance in East Africa of 31.7% and Francophone Africa of 18.4%.

Airtel’s customer base grew to 155.4 million as the company continued its investment in data by laying over 5,600 km of fibre cables.

The company’s share price is down 10% in pre-market trading, hours ahead of its Q1 earnings call on Thursday.

“A key priority for us is to look for new opportunities to further grow our business, especially in the enterprise, fibre and data centre businesses across our footprint in Africa,” said new CEO Sunil Taldar, who succeeded Olusegun Ogunsanya in June 2024.” 

In March 2024, the telco began began work on a data center that will be live by Q1 2026.