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airtel Airtel Africa plc Results for the nine - month period ended 31 December 2020 29 January 2021 Another quarter of double - digit growth , with continued improvement in revenue growth and EBITDA profitability Highlights • • • • • Reported revenue increased by 13.8 % to $ 2,870m with Q3'21 reported revenue growth of 19.5 % . Constant currency underlying revenue growth was 18.6 % , with Q3'21 growth of 22.8 % . Growth for the nine months was recorded across all regions : Nigeria up 21.6 % , East Africa up 23.4 % and Francophone Africa up 8.0 % ; and across all services , with voice revenue up 10.4 % , data up 31.1 % and mobile money up 34.2 % . Underlying EBITDA for the nine months was $ 1,297m , up 16 % in reported currency while constant currency underlying EBITDA growth was 22.5 % . Underlying EBITDA margin for the nine months was 45.5 % , up by 118 bps ( up 144 bps in constant currency ) . Q3'21 underlying EBITDA margin was 46.9 % . Operating profit increased by 21.8 % to $ 800m in reported currency , and by 29.9 % in constant currency . • Free cash flow was $ 466m , up 20 % compared to the same period last year . • • Basic EPS was 5.5 cents , down 36.5 % , largely due to prior year exceptional items and a one - off derivative gain . Excluding these , basic EPS rose by 19.8 % . EPS before exceptional items was 5.0 cents . Customer base up 11.0 % to 118.9 million , with increased penetration across mobile data ( customer base up 23.5 % ) and mobile money services ( customer base up 29.0 % ) . 2.5 million customers were added in Q3'21 . Alternative performance measures ( Nine - month period ended ) GAAP Measures ( Nine - month period ended ) Dec - 20 Dec - 19 Description $ m $ m Reported Constant Currency change % Dec - 20 Dec - 19 Currency Description Reported Currency change % $ m $ m change % Underlying revenue 1 2,850 2,522 13.0 % 18.6 % Revenue 2,870 2,522 13.8 % Underlying EBITDA 1,297 1,118 16.0 % 22.5 % Operating profit 800 657 21.8 % Underlying EBITDA margin 45.5 % 44.3 % 118 bps 144 bps Profit before tax 2 482 501 ( 3.8 % ) Free cash flow 466 388 20.0 % Profit after tax 2 261 331 ( 21.1 % ) EPS before exceptional items 5.0 5.8 ( 13.7 % ) Basic EPS ( cents ) ( cents ) 5.5 8.6 ( 36.5 % ) EPS before exceptional items 5.0 5.4 ( cents ) restated 3 ( 8.1 % ) Basic EPS ( cents ) restated 3 5.5 8.1 ( 32.4 % ) ( 1 ) Underlying revenue excludes a one - time exceptional revenue of $ 20m relating to a settlement in Niger in the nine months to 31 December 2020 . ( 2 ) PBT and PAT decline is largely due to one - off items incurred in the same period in the prior year , excluding the benefit of exceptional items and one - off derivative gain in the prior period , PBT and PAT increased by 20.4 % and 30.1 % respectively . Please refer to page 4 for explanations of GAAP measures movements . ( 3 ) In July 2019 , after the announcement of Initial Public Offering ( IPO ) , the company issued 676,406,927 new shares . EPS has been restated considering all the shares as of 31 December 2020 had been issued on 1 April 2019 for like for like comparison . Raghunath Mandava , chief executive officer , on the trading update : " Our nine - month performance reflects both the resilience of our business model through the Covid - 19 pandemic and , for the last six months , a continued improvement in our execution and performance as lockdown restrictions have eased across our countries of operation . I am particularly pleased with our performance in the latest third quarter , which has demonstrated accelerated growth in both revenue and underlying EBITDA in constant currency to 22.8 % and 28.3 % respectively . In part this is due to our continued delivery of strong customer growth in Q3 , despite the introduction mid - December of additional customer registration requirements in Nigeria . This has meant a temporary halt to the ability of all operators in the country to onboard new customers . But we are working closely with the government to ensure that all our subscribers provide their valid National Identification Numbers ( NINS ) and update their SIM registration records , such that disruption is minimised . Our performance improvement is evident across the business . Regionally , I am pleased to see that the continued strong revenue growth in Nigeria and East Africa , growing 21.6 % and 23.4 % in constant currency , is increasingly being matched by improvements across Francophone Africa , posting 8.0 % growth for the period and 15.0 % in Q3 . Our rollout into rural markets , along with robust customer growth , helped voice grow 10 % , while data and mobile money continued to be growth engines , with over 30 % growth . Finally , while the Covid - 19 pandemic has had little impact on our most recent quarter , we remain vigilant about the recent news flow around new strains of the virus and further actions by governments to minimise contagion in our countries of operation . The opportunities for sustainable profitable growth from our underpenetrated markets for both mobile and mobile money services remain hugely attractive , and we are confident of continuing to deliver on our growth strategy . " 1