Airtel Africa looking to buy back shares

Airtel Africa intends to launch a 12-month share buy-back programme of up to $100 million, running for 12 months, starting early March.

Announcing its results for the third quarter of 2023, the operator said this move resulted from its strong operating performance and outlook of growth.

“We continue to be well positioned to deliver on the attractive growth opportunities our markets offer and despite the challenge of rising diesel prices, ongoing currency devaluation and inflationary pressures across some of our markets, we remain focused on margin resilience,” said Olusegun Ogunsanya, Group chief executive officer.

A subsidiary of Bharti Aritel, the group operates mobile telecommunications services in 14 African countries, namely: Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Niger, Zambia, Gabon, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Seychelles and Madagascar.

During the last quarter of 2023, the operator’s total customer base grew by 9.1% to 151.2 million.

The penetration of mobile data and mobile money services continued to rise, driving a 22.4% increase in data customers to 62.7 million and a 19.5% increase in mobile money customers to 37.5 million.

Mobile money transaction value increased by 41.3% in constant currency, with quarterly annualised transaction value of $116 billion in reported currency.

Capital expenditure of $494 million was 8.2% higher compared to the prior period.

Capex guidance for the full year remains between $800 million and $825 million as Airtel Africa continues to invest for future growth.

“We remain focussed on the execution of our growth strategy and, combined with our strong operational execution, this has ensured that we continue to see sustained, positive growth momentum across the business, despite the inflationary and currency headwinds,” Ogunsanya said.