Economy
Airtel Africa’s Q1’19 Revenue Rises 6.9%, PAT Drops 12.2%
By Dipo Olowookere
The board of Airtel Africa Plc has announced the release of the first quarter results of the company for the period ended June 30, 2019.
This is the first quarterly financial statements of the telco after its Initial Public Offering (IPO) some weeks ago and its listing on both the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
From the brief analysis of the financial status of the firm, Business Post observed that the revenue generated improved by 6.9 percent to $795.9 million from $744.5 million. This was buoyed by its operations from Nigeria, which recorded a revenue growth of 22.2 percent to $312.9 million from $256.2 million. Its East Africa arm recorded a marginal 4.0 percent rise in revenue, while the rest of Africa suffered a 8.0 percent decline in revenue in the first quarter of the year.
A further analysis of the results showed that the expenses incurred by the company increased by 3.2 percent to $452.3 million from $438.4 million, while the net finance costs increased to $81.5 million from $73.9 million.
In Q1 2019, Airtel Africa said its underlying EBITDA was $347.6 million against $316.9 million in Q1 2018, while the operating profit stood at $186.2 million as at June 30, 2019 in contrast to $169.8 million as at June 30, 2018.
It was further revealed by the board that in the first quarter of its 2019 financial year, the profit before tax was $167.4 million compared with $80.2 million in the first quarter of 2018 fiscal year, indicating 108.8 percent growth.
However, the profit after tax (PAT) went down by 12.2 percent to $132.2 million in Q1 2019 from 150.6 million in Q1 2018, while the earnings per share (EPS) depreciated by 62.2 percent to 4.1 Cents from 10.8 Cents.
A look at the customer base of the telecommunications firm showed a 9.3 percent growth to 99.7 million in the period under review from 91.2 million in the same period of 2018.
While commenting on the results, the Chief Executive Officer of Airtel Africa, Mr Raghunath Mandava, said, “I am pleased to report a strong start to the financial year, in our first quarterly results since the IPO. These results, which are in line with our expectations, are clear evidence of the effectiveness of our strategy across Voice, Data and Mobile Money.
“In the quarter, we delivered a 10 percent increase in revenue in constant currency terms, with even higher underlying EBITDA growth largely as a result of operating leverage and a tight focus on costs which led to underlying EBITDA margin expansion of 101 bps.
“Voice revenue, our largest business product, was up 3 percent largely driven by 9 percent growth in our customer base, now reaching nearly 100 million customers across our footprint.
“Data revenue, our largest contributor to growth, was up 36 percent as an increasing number of customers relied on our high-quality and high-speed LTE network, resulting in a 79 percent growth in data usage.
“Mobile Money revenue, our fastest growing business, increased by 42 percent as we expanded our distribution reach.
“We continued to invest in our 4G network, adding nearly 1,500 sites; now more than half of our sites are 4G. We also continue to prepare for the launch of our Mobile Money business in Nigeria, securing approval of the brand name, an important step as we await approval for our payment service bank license.
“The business continues to show momentum and we are confident of delivering sustained growth across Voice, Data and Mobile Money, underpinning our medium-term aspirations for revenue and profit growth.”
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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