Airtel Africa PLC on Thursday said it plans to launch a share buyback programme starting next month, as it reported a decline in profit and revenue amid a depreciating Nigerian currency.
The Africa-focused telecommunications firm said pretax profit fell to $43 million in the third quarter ended December 31 from $285 million a year before.
Revenue fell 8.3% to $1.24 billion from $1.35 billion. Total finance cost more than doubled to $365 million from $161 million, as the company noted an impact from foreign exchange losses due to the devaluation of the Nigerian naira.
On December 31, a dollar bought around NGN897, doubled from NGN448 a year before.
The naira plunged after President Bola Tinubu removed Nigeria’s foreign currency controls. On June 17 alone, the dollar jumped by 41% to NGN656.51.
Despite the profit decline, Airtel Africa aims to launch a share buyback programme of up to $100 million over a 12-month period, starting early next month.
Meanwhile, the company confirmed that Sunil Taldar will become chief executive officer on July 1. Taldar had joined the company in October.
Outgoing CEO Olusegun Ogunsanya said: ‘This strong operating performance has limited the impact that currency movements have had on the group. In this regard, whilst further currency devaluation, particularly in Nigeria, has weighed on our reported financial performance, it will not affect the execution of our growth plans.’
Airtel Africa shares were up 3.7% to 116.40 pence each on Thursday morning in London.
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