Following similar efforts in Europe and LatAm we are launching coverage on the HY Telcos & Towers in EMEA & Africa. New names under coverage include Helios (also initiated on equity, pt GBp140), Axian Telecom and Liquid Intelligent. We also address IHS Towers (pt cut to US$ 6), VEON and Helios’ bonds.
In its recently released Q1:2025 financial result, Airtel Africa Plc (AIRTELAFRI) posted a decrease in its consolidated topline in reporting currency (USD). Overall, Revenue fell by 16.07% YoY to USD1.16bn in Q1:2025. This decline may be alluded to currency devaluations in two out of three regions of operation, Nigeria and East Africa. In reported currency, Voice Revenue (-23.41% YoY), Data Revenue (-15.79% YoY), and Other Revenue (-12.56% YoY) all contributed to the annual deceleration in grow...
Q1 was a solid quarter for the Sub-Saharan African operators, especially from a top line perspective. Airtel Africa continued to outperform peers overall. We continue to think that fundamentals for AAF and MTN are strong and deserve more attention. Valuations are compelling too.
Nigerian Telcos continue to perform well from a top line perspective. Market service revenue growth accelerated (again) in Q1 with both MTN Nigeria and Airtel Africa growing underlying service revenue by ~33% YoY. As expected, EBITDA and profit metrics were weaker (especially for MTN) because of the Naira devaluation in Q1
Bharti crossing $100bn market cap makes us address the question of which parts of the Bharti/Singtel/Airtel Africa capital structure are most attractive. Bharti has the momentum, but the valuation gap is now extreme. Reversion to the mean will likely happen at some point which means sensible investors in Bharti should now be switching into Singtel (for yield) or Airtel Africa (for growth).
Currency Woes Persist in Nigeria In three operating regions, AIRTELAFRI recorded stronger YoY reporting currency revenue growth in only Francophone Africa . In reporting currency terms, Francophone Africa grew by 12.39% YoY to NGN1.35bn in 2024FYE (vs. 6.21% YoY in 2023FYE). This growth was stronger than 10.34% YoY in 2024FYE recorded in constant currency (vs. 12.66% YoY in 2023FYE), due to currency appreciation in the Central African Franc during the period. Stable Operating Margins: Lower...
In this note we revisit and update our thesis that Enterprise in EM is following an S-Curve, using 2023 reported figures. Enterprise customer growth continues to exhibit an S-Curve, and absolute Enterprise revenues added remains very strong in many EMs despite a slowdown in growth rates. We remain bullish on this space.
Airtel Africa has published a decent set of Q4 results. Top line performance remained strong, service revenue growth in local currency came in above consensus expectations and above our expectations. EBITDA trends slowed (but remained decent given the macro context in Q1) and margins came in 1pp below consensus and us.
We deep dive on African Telco’s Fintech valuations in this note which is a follow up of our higher-level note Show me the (Mobile) Money. African Telcos are becoming more active about unlocking value from Mobile Money (MoMo) with MTN’s recent deal with Mastercard and now rumours that AAF is looking to IPO its MoMo business. Global Fintech/Payments multiples have derated over the past couple of years, but we continue to see great value in the African Telco’s MoMo assets which remain one the key n...
Airtel Africa has published a solid set of Q3 results with both revenue and EBITDA trends accelerating in local currency. Margins over the first nine month of the year are trending above 9m23 which is in line with the message given in Q2.
2023 was a relatively tough year for African Telcos, with strong macro headwinds driving currency weakness and cost pressures. With inflation starting to subside some of this pressure is easing, although some African currencies may continue to weaken.
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