Naira devaluation: Airtel records $549m foreign exchange losses

For its entire year ending in March 2024, Airtel Africa Plc reported a $89 million loss after taxes. This was attributed to a $549 million foreign exchange loss brought on by the devaluations of the Naira in June 2024 and the Malawian kwacha in November 2023. 

The telco said in its full-year report, which was made public on Thursday, that the depreciation of the Naira was the main reason for its reported Revenue decrease of 5.3% to $4.98 billion. 

“Loss after tax of $89m during the year ended March 31, 2024, was primarily impacted by the $549m net of tax impact of the exceptional derivative and foreign exchange losses.

“Nigerian constant currency revenue growth accelerated to 34.2 percent in Q4’24 despite the challenging backdrop,” it said. 

Olusegun Ogunsanya, the CEO of Airtel, announced that the company has started lowering the risks associated with currency devaluation. 

“Furthermore, our rigorous approach to de-risking our balance sheet and our capital allocation priorities has materially reduced the currency devaluation risks on our business,” he affirmed.

Recall that between June of last year and the present, Nigeria depreciated its currency twice, bringing the value of the Naira per dollar from about N460 to N1,400.

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