Economy
Airtel Africa Offers 2.6 Cents H1’25 Dividend as Customer Base Rises to 156.6 million
By Dipo Olowookere
More people are beginning to embrace the services of Airtel Africa Plc because of the company’s sustained network investment across the 14 countries it operates.
The 2025 half-year results of Airtel Africa Plc ended September 30, 2024, released on Friday, October 25, 2024, showed that its customer base went up during the period by 6.1 per cent to 156.6 million, helping the telco to increase its revenue in constant currency by 19.9 per cent, though the reported currency retreated by 9.7 per cent to $2.4 billion from $2.6 billion in the same period of last year as a result of Naira devaluation in Nigeria, which grew its earnings by 38.2 per cent in the second quarter of the financial year.
Airtel Africa said data customer penetration continues to rise, driving a 10.4 per cent increase in data customers to 66.0 million, with data usage per customer rising by 30.9 per cent to 6.6 GBs and smartphone penetration growing by 5.3 per cent to 42.9 per cent.
It stated further that mobile money subscribers went up by 13.4 per cent to 41.5 million, reflecting its continued investment into distribution to support increased financial inclusion across its markets.
In the period under review, transaction value expanded by 30.1 per cent in constant currency with an annualised transaction value of $128 billion.
The company emphasised that customer experience remains core to its strategy with sustained network investment during the period, helping data capacity across the network to move up by 20 per cent with the rollout of over 2,800 sites and around 3,500 km of fibre.
Airtel Africa said to secure beneficial contract structures and further enhance its partnership with ATC, it has extended its tower lease agreements for approximately 7,100 sites in four markets for a further 12-year period.
“The new agreements have a focus on renewable energy investment which will drive operating cost efficiencies over the medium-term and will have a neutral to positive impact on near-term free cash flow.
“The renewals have resulted in a $1.2 billion increase in lease liabilities, which has been the primary driver of the increase in leverage to 2.3x from 1.6x in the previous quarter,” it stated.
Airtel Africa said in the period under review, a substantial increase in fuel prices across its markets and the lower contribution of Nigeria to the Group after the naira devaluation contributed to a decline in EBITDA margins to 45.8 per cent from 49.6 per cent in H1’24.
It said profit after tax of $79 million was impacted by $151 million of exceptional derivative and foreign exchange losses (net of tax), arising from the further depreciation in the Nigerian naira during the period.
However, the board increased the interim dividend payout by 9 per cent to 2.6 cents per share in line with its progressive dividend policy.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Commercial paper worth N50 billion has been offered to investors by a leading telecommunications firm in the country, MTN Nigeria Communications Plc.
The offer is only open for subscription for a day, according to details of the exercise obtained by Business Post.
Subscription for the commercial paper opened on Monday, December 23, 2024, and closed today, Tuesday, December 24, 2024.
MTN Nigeria said it went for the N50 billion commercial paper sale to raise funds for its short-term working capital requirements.
It offered the paper in two series of 15 and 16, the former taking a 180-day tenor and the latter a 270-day tenor.
MTN Nigeria sold the six-month paper at a discount rate of 24.2162 per cent and the nine-month paper at 23.8780 per cent.
The exercise is under MTN Nigeria’s N250 billion commercial paper programme. According to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), MTN Nigeria boasts 80,376,120 subscribers across the country and controls a market share of 51.09 per cent as of October 2024.
The telco was the first to launch a 5G network in Nigeria, providing coverage in key cities in the six geopolitical regions with population coverage of 12.7 per cent.
MTN Nigeria has approximately 45.3 million active data users and 2.8 million active mobile money wallets, driving digital and financial inclusion in a young and fast-growing population.
By Adedapo Adesanya
President Bola Tinubu has again said he has no regrets about removing the petrol subsidy in May 2023 and introducing other reforms in the country.
“I don’t have any regrets whatsoever about removing the petrol subsidy. We are spending our future, we were deceiving ourselves, that reform was necessary,” the President told selected reporters during a pre-recorded media chat on Monday night at his Bourdillon residence in Ikoyi, Lagos State.
President Tinubu said that the removal of the petrol subsidy last year increased competition within the sector and that the pump price of petrol gradually crashed.
“The market is being saturated. No monopoly, no oligopoly, a free market economy flowing,” he said.
President Tinubu, who took office in May 2023, has always hammered on the need for the reforms, despite calls from several quarters to alleviate increased hardship brought on by his policies.
Business Post reports that he defended the policies recently at the 2025 Budget presentation as he has done on a number of occasions, including at a conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia earlier this year.
He also said he does not believe in price control and he won’t go that path.
“I don’t believe in price control, we will work hard to supply the market,” he said.
He also said it was about time to bring the governance down, adding that, “we will try.”
The President said the country will be looking at agriculture, export incentives, harnessing the marine ecosystem; bringing affordable transportation.
“We will bring it down gradually,” he added.
He continued, “The key is to produce more for local consumption and exports while reducing imports. We’re supporting farmers with low-interest loans and improving security to encourage agricultural activities.
“Mechanised farming is being prioritised, with thousands of tractors set to arrive in the country. In addition, we’re incentivising local drug manufacturing and harnessing our marine ecosystem for economic growth.
“By addressing these sectors, we aim to bring down costs and stimulate the economy,” he noted.
By Adedapo Adesanya
There was a 1.10 per cent depreciation at the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange on Monday, December 23 as investors booked profit ahead of the Christmas break.
This was largely influenced by the decline suffered by three securities on the trading platform, with FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc losing N3.84 to sell for N40.00 per share compared to the previous session’s N43.84 per share.
Further, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) lost N1.50 to close at N22.00 per unit versus the preceding trading day’s N23.50 per unit, and First Trust Microfinance Bank moderated by 2 Kobo to 34 Kobo per share from 36 Kobo per share.
Conversely, Okitipupa Plc appreciated by N3.27 to end at N35.99 per unit compared with last Friday’s closing price of N32.72 per unit, Geo-Fluids Plc improved its value by 32 Kobo to sell at N4.20 per share versus the previous session’s N3.88 per share, and UBN Property Plc recorded an 11 Kobo appreciation to trade at N2.00 per unit, in contrast to the preceding trading day’s value of N1.89 per unit.
When the bourse ended for the session, the market capitalisation lost N12 billion to settle at N1.031 trillion compared with last Friday’s N1.043 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) gave up 33.49 points to end the day at 3,009.78 points as against 3,043.27 points it recorded at the previous session.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded at the bourse significantly rose by 628.8 per cent to 8.6 million units from the 1.2 million units of the previous session, but the value of securities transacted by the market participants went down by 22.5 per cent to N39.6 million from N51.2 million, as the number of deals increased by 158.3 per cent to 31 deals from the 12 deals recorded in the preceding trading day.
At the close of business, Geo-Fluids Plc was the most traded equity by volume on a year-to-date basis with 1.7 billion units worth N4.0 billion, trailed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.4 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with 297.7 million units sold for N5.3 million.
The most traded equity by value on a year-to-date basis was still Aradel Holdings Plc with 108.7 million units valued at N89.2 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.4 million units sold for N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with 297.7 million units worth N5.3 billion.
-
Feature/OPED5 years agoDavos was Different this year
-
Travel/Tourism8 years ago
Lagos Seals Western Lodge Hotel In Ikorodu
-
Showbiz2 years agoEstranged Lover Releases Videos of Empress Njamah Bathing
-
Banking7 years agoSort Codes of GTBank Branches in Nigeria
-
Economy2 years agoSubsidy Removal: CNG at N130 Per Litre Cheaper Than Petrol—IPMAN
-
Banking2 years agoFirst Bank Announces Planned Downtime
-
Sports2 years agoHighest Paid Nigerian Footballer – How Much Do Nigerian Footballers Earn
-
Technology4 years agoHow To Link Your MTN, Airtel, Glo, 9mobile Lines to NIN