Airtel Africa Q3 Results: Net profit up 7% at $193 million

Bharti Airtel's Africa business reported a net profit of $193 million (about Rs 1,544 crore ) for the fiscal third quarter, a 7% rise from a year ago, bolstered by growth in customer base, data and mobile money revenues.

Airtel Africa's net profit grew almost 27% sequentially in the October-December period, on the back of a near 22% on-quarter fall in net finance costs to $161 million.

Revenue for the quarter ended December rose 11% on-year and 3.2% sequentially to $1.35 billion, the company said Thursday.

Average revenue per user (ARPU)-a key performance metric-was up 2.1% from the quarter before, and 5.8% on-year to $3.1.

"The strong results are a testament to this strategy despite the current macro-economic and geopolitical uncertainties," Segun Ogunsanya, Airtel Africa's chief executive officer, said .

He added that the company's customer base grew 10% on-year, supported by nearly 14% growth in data customers and an over 22% on-year jump in its mobile money user base. Airtel Africa's consumer base across its 14 markets rose 2.9% on-quarter and 10.1% on-year to 138.5 million.

Ogunsanya said the company's ARPU growth of 7.2% in constant currency was largely driven by increased usage across voice, data and mobile money, effectively resulting in 18% revenue growth (in constant currency) in the December quarter.

"Despite inflationary pressures across our markets, the strong revenue performance in the first nine months combined with continued focus on cost optimisation contributed to Ebitda growth of over 17% in constant currency, with stable (operating) margins," Ogunsanya added.