Economy
Airtel Africa Declares Half-Year Dividend as Data, Mobile Money Boost Revenue
By Dipo Olowookere
Shareholders of Airtel Africa will receive an interim dividend of $1.5¢ (one and a half cents of the US dollar) per share for the half-year ended September 30, 2020, the board of the telco has declared.
This, according to the board, is in line with the new progressive dividend policy to focus on growth opportunities and faster deleveraging.
The new policy aims to grow the dividend annually by a mid to high-single-digit percentage from a base of $4 cents per share for the full year, the company noted in the statement on Friday.
The key highlights of the financial statements of the company released to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) showed that while the customer base grew by 12.0 per cent to 116.4 million, the revenue on a reported basis increased by 10.7 per cent to $1.8 billion, with Q2 revenue growth of 14.3 per cent.
In addition, the revenue growth in constant currency was 16.4 per cent in H1 and 19.6 per cent in the second quarter of the year.
It was observed that growth was recorded across all regions, with Nigeria up by 20.2 per cent, East Africa up by 21.9 per cent and Francophone Africa up by 4.4 per cent.
Furthermore, the voice revenue increased by 7.0 per cent, data rose by 33.4 per cent and mobile money jumped by 30.4 per cent.
In the results, the underlying EBITDA increased 12.8 per cent to $812 million while constant currency underlying EBITDA growth was 19.3 per cent, with reported underlying EBITDA margin at 44.7 per cent.
In the period under consideration, the operating profit increased by 19.5 per cent to $472 million, an increase of 28.3 per cent in constant currency, while the free cash flow stood at $319 million versus $210 million in the same period last year.
As a result of exceptional items and a one-off derivative gain incurred in the prior year, the earnings per share (EPS) dropped 52.9 per cent to $3.0¢.
In the words of the chief executive of the company, Mr Raghunath Mandava, “The fundamentals of our business remain strong and revenue growth further benefitted from the execution of our strategy with a specific focus on expanding distribution in the rural areas, investing in our network and increasing 4G coverage, as well as benefitting from the fact we provide an essential service to consumers.”
According to him, in the second quarter of the fiscal year, Airtel Africa partnered with “leading institutions such as WorldRemit, MoneyGram, Standard Chartered Bank and Mukuru to increase use cases and improve customers’ access to digital payments and financial services.”
“We remain alert to the potential for further disruptions from a second wave of COVID-19 across Africa and the associated actions of governments to minimise contagion.
“Nevertheless, we are in a strong financial position to capture the opportunities in a fast-growing region that is vastly underpenetrated in terms of mobile and banking services. We remain confident of delivering long-term sustained growth for our shareholders,” he assured.
Economy
BNB Price Reflects Changing Dynamics in the Digital Asset Market
Economy
NASD Unlisted Security Index Crosses 4,000-point Benchmark Again
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange achieved a milestone on Friday, April 24, 2026, after five securities on the platform helped with a 1.85 per cent growth.
Data showed that the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) again crossed the 4,000-point benchmark yesterday.
The index chalked up 73.64 points during the trading day to close at 4,052.59 points compared with the preceding session’s 3,978.95 points, while the market capitalisation added N5.38 billion to finish at N2.424 trillion versus Thursday’s closing value of N2.380 trillion.
The price gainers were led by Okitipupa Plc, which grew by N25.00 to sell at N305.00 per share compared with the previous price of N280.00 per share. Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc gained N6.92 to close at N76.26 per unit versus N69.34 per unit, Afriland Properties Plc appreciated by N1.00 to N17.00 per share from N18.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc improved by 55 Kobo to N99.55 per unit from N99.00 per unit, and Food Concepts Plc increased by 5 Kobo to N2.70 per share from N2.65 per share.
However, there was a price loser, MRS Oil, which dipped by N21.75 to N195.75 per unit from N217.50 per unit.
During the final session of the week, the value of securities jumped 75.2 per cent to N41.3 million from N23.6 million units, and the number of deals expanded by 62.9 per cent to 44 deals from 27 deals, while the volume of securities declined marginally by 0.9 per cent to 447,403 units from 451,522 units.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units traded for N1.2 billion.
GNI was also the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 59.6 million units transacted for N4.0 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units exchanged for N1.9 billion.
Economy
Naira Slips to N1,358/$1 as FX Reserves, Policy Uncertainty Concerns
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was not a good day for the Nigerian Naira in the currency market on Friday, April 24, as its value depreciated against the major foreign currencies at the close of transactions.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX), it lost N4.53 or 0.33 per cent against the United States Dollar yesterday to trade at N1,358.44/$1, in contrast to the N1,353.91/$1 it was exchanged on Thursday.
Equally, the domestic currency slipped against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N8.14 to close at N1,834.02/£1, compared with the previous rate of N1,825.88/£1 and dropped N8.01 against the Euro to sell at N1,590.73/€1 versus N1,582.72/€1.
Also, the Naira depreciated against the US Dollar at the GTBank FX desk on Friday by N4 to quote at N1,370/$1 compared with the previous session’s N1,366/$1, and at the parallel market, it depleted by N5 to settle at N1,380/$1 versus the preceding day’s N1,375/$1.
Data published by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) indicated that NFEM interbank turnover surged to N43.562 million across 68 deals, up from N28.117 million the previous day.
Despite the CBN’s reassurance that the recent drop in external reserves is not worrisome, the market remains unsettled by persistent concerns over liquidity constraints, policy transparency, and weakening confidence in Nigeria’s FX market as gross reserves continue to decline to $48.4 billion.
The outlook for the Dollar appears supported by broader macro risks, including elevated oil prices tied to the tanker traffic disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and a continued US-Iran standoff over ceasefire negotiations.
A look at the digital currency market showed that investors are sitting on the edge as the US Dollar rebounded amid geopolitical and inflation risks despite continued inflows into US spot bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).
Solana (SOL) rose by 1.2 per cent to sell $86.45, Cardano (ADA) appreciated by 1.1 per cent to $0.2517, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 0.9 per cent to $0.0989, Ripple (XRP) improved by 0.3 per cent to $1.43, Ethereum (ETH) soared by 0.2 per cent to $2,316.83, and Binance Coin (BNB) chalked up 0.1 per cent to sell for $637.44.
However, TRON (TRX) depreciated by 1.3 per cent to $0.3235, and Bitcoin (BTC) lost 0.2 per cent to close at $77,562.27, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
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