Airtel Africa Q3 pre-tax profits fall despite revenue growth

Telecommunications group Airtel Africa said on Thursday that third-quarter pre-tax profits had fallen despite delivering increased revenues in the period.

Airtel Africa stated that third-quarter pre-tax profits had slipped 4.2% to $285.0m but noted that profit attributable to the company had actually risen 10.7% to $172.0m.

Revenues also grew 10.7%, or 18% at constant currency, to $1.35bn as the company's total customer base increased 10.1% to 138.5m.

Chief executive Segun Ogunsanya said: "Providing affordable, innovative and essential services to customers in our 14 markets with unparalleled network quality and customer service is integral to our ambition of transforming lives across Africa. These strong results are testament to this strategy despite the current macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties.

"I am particularly pleased with these results which demonstrate the opportunities these markets offer, our ability to deliver against these opportunities and the contribution we make to local communities and economies across our footprint. For the remainder of the financial year. we continue to anticipate sustained growth in the business with continued EBITDA margin resilience."

As of 0845 GMT, Airtel Africa shares were down 4.47% at 111.10p.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com