Airtel Africa Marks Significant Financial Milestone Amid Currency Fluctuation Challenges
Airtel Africa, a leading telecommunications and mobile money services provider announced that its subsidiary, Bharti Airtel International (Netherlands) B.V., has fully repaid its $550 million bond maturing on Monday.
This was revealed in a corporate filing with the Nigerian Exchange Limited, signed by Group Company Secretary, Simon O’Hara, on the same day.
With this repayment, Airtel Africa has achieved a zero-debt position at the holding company level. The $550 million bond consisted of 5.35 percent Guaranteed Senior Notes.
“This bond repayment of $550 million has been made exclusively out of cash reserves at the holding company and is a continuation of our strategy to reduce external foreign currency debt,” the statement read. “At the time of the IPO in June 2019, the group had $2.719 billion of external debt at HoldCo, which resulted in significant exposure to currency fluctuations and reliance on upstreaming funds to cover both interest costs and the principal repayment.”
Airtel Africa has been steadily reducing its HoldCo debt through consistent execution of its strategy, which supports strong free cash flow generation and successful upstreaming efforts. This milestone reflects the group’s successful capital allocation strategy since its IPO and signals continued efforts to reduce foreign currency debt obligations across its operating companies.
Despite this achievement, Airtel Africa reported an $89 million loss after tax, primarily due to significant foreign exchange headwinds. The company faced a $549 million net loss following the devaluation of the Nigerian naira in June 2023 and the Malawian kwacha in November 2023.
“The after-effects of the CBN announcement continued to impact the exchange rate materially during January 2024, when the Nigerian naira to the US dollar moved to 1,414 per USD, surpassing the threshold percentage as per the group’s exceptional item policy,” the company stated. “Over February and March 2024, the naira partially recovered to close at 1,303 per USD, reversing some losses seen in January. This fluctuation led to significant derivatives and foreign exchange losses.”
Despite these financial setbacks, Airtel Africa’s board proposed a final dividend of $3.27 per share for the year ending March 2024, demonstrating confidence in the company’s long-term financial health and commitment to shareholder returns.
