Airtel Africa said it has completed a reduction of its share capital and share premium account so as to “create distributable reserves”, Alliance News reported. The capital reduction has been approved by the high court and is now effective, with 50,000 redeemable deferred shares now cancelled and extinguished, taking the credit of Airtel’s share premium account to zero.
The goal of the cancellation was to create distributable reserves to support the company’s dividend policy. Airtel, with a presence in fourteen African countries, said the number of its ordinary shares in issue has not changed, nor has their nominal value. As such, following the capital reduction, Airtel has 3.76 billion shares in issue with one vote and 3.08 billion non-voting deferred shares.