Airtel Africa said its revenue increased by 11.6 percent to USD 3.15 billion in the year to March compared to USD 2.83 billion in the same period in 2018. The company said the increase in data and Airtel Money penetration led to faster net revenue growth of 13.2 percent. EBITDA for year amounted to USD 1.37 billion, up from USD 1.11 billion in the previous year, and the margin improved to 43.3 percent from 39.2 percent in 2018.
EBIT jumped to USD 817 million from USD 584 million in the previous year, and the net result moved to a profit of USD 412 million from a loss of USD 138 million in 2018. Capital expenditure during the year was USD 630 million for African operations, up from USD 395 million a year earlier, largely on account of investment in data capacities and network modernization.
The company ended the year with an aggregate customer base of 98.9 million versus 89.3 million in the previous year, an increase of 10.7 percent year-on-year and nearly 1 million more than in fiscal Q3. Customer churn for the year increased to 5.0 percent as compared to 4.4 percent in the previous year mainly due to introduction of more stringent regulations.
Data customers increased by 5.1 million to 30.0 million and reached 30.4 percent of the total customer base, compared to 27.9 percent in the previous year. The total customer base using the Airtel Money platform increased by 24.0 percent to 14.2 million, and the total value of transactions on the Airtel money platform witnessed growth of 30.5 percent to USD 26.2 billion. Airtel Money revenue was at USD 243.3 million compared to USD 152.4 million in the previous year, reflecting a growth of 59.7 percent.