For the full year ending in March 2024, Airtel Africa Plc revealed a post-tax loss of $89 million, attributed to a $549 million foreign exchange loss resulting from the devaluation of the Naira in June 2024 and the Malawian kwacha in November 2023.
In its yearly report released on Thursday, the telecom company stated that its reported revenue decreased by 5.3%, totaling $4.98 billion, primarily due to the devaluation of the Naira.
The company mentioned, “The loss after tax of $89m for the year ended March 31, 2024, was mainly impacted by the $549m net tax effect of exceptional derivative and foreign exchange losses.
Despite the challenging circumstances, Nigerian constant currency revenue growth surged to 34.2% in Q4’24,” it added.
Meanwhile, Airtel’s Chief Executive Officer, Olusegun Ogunsanya, highlighted the company’s efforts to mitigate the risks associated with currency devaluation.
Ogunsanya affirmed, “Moreover, our stringent strategy to de-risk our balance sheet and prioritize capital allocation has significantly minimized the currency devaluation risks on our operations.”
It’s worth noting that Nigeria has devalued its currency twice between June last year and now, causing the Naira’s value to decrease from around N460 per dollar to N1,400.