Airtel Loses $151m To Nigeria’s FX Rates harmonization

Airtel Africa Plc has reported a significant loss of $151m due to the harmonisation of Foreign Exchange (FX) rates in Nigeria.

The loss was disclosed in Airtel Africa Plc’s second quarter report, which was filed with the Nigerian Exchange Limited, NGX.

The telecom company attributed the negative profit after tax to a FX loss of $471m recorded in finance cost before tax and $317m after tax, resulting from the devaluation of the Nigerian currency in June 2023.

The impact has been classified as a non-operating exceptional item.

Its statement read:
“Profit after tax was negative ($151m) driven largely by a foreign exchange loss of $471m recorded in finance cost before tax and $317m after tax because of the devaluation of the Nigerian currency in the month of June 2023.

“This impact has been classified as a non-operating exceptional item.”

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in June decided to unify all segments of the Nigerian forex market.

CBN’s decision collapsed all windows into the Investors & Exporters (I&E) window, aimed to improve liquidity and stability in the market and attract foreign investors into the Nigerian economy.

Nonetheless, Airtel’s total customer base grew by 8.8% to 143.1 million, driven by a 22.0% increase in data customers to 56.8 million and a 24.3% increase in mobile customers.

The above came as mobile data continued to grow penetration and mobile money services. Currency customers reached DKK 34.3 million.