BY FESTUS OKOROMADU
The Board of Directors of Airtel Africa Plc has disclosed that it would be seeking shareholders’ approval to cancel the company’s 3,081,744,577 deferred shares of $0.50 each at 2023 annual general meeting scheduled to hold on July 4, 2023.
This is as the second largest mobile telecom operator in Nigeria declared a net profit of $750 million (about N347 billion) for the financial year ended March 31, 2023.
The telecommunications and mobile money services provider disclosed its intention of share cancellation to the Nigeria Exchange Limited on Friday.
The statement signed by the Group Company Secretary, Simon O’Hara, listed the share cancellation as one of the major resolutions the board will be proposing to shareholders for approval at the meeting.
Meanwhile, the audited annual report of the company indicated that the authorized shares comprise of 3,758,151,504 ordinary shares of $0.50 each and 3,081,744,577 deferred shares of $0.50 each as at March 2023.
The explanatory note of the annual report declares as follows: “These deferred shares are not listed and are intended to be cancelled in due course. No share certificates are to be issued in respect of the deferred shares. These are not freely transferable and would not affect the net assets of the company. The deferred shareholders shall have no right to receive any dividend or other distribution or return whether of capital or income.
“On a return of capital in a liquidation, the deferred shareholders shall have the right to receive the nominal amount of each deferred share held, but only after the holder of each ‘Other’ share (i.e., shares other than the deferred shares) in the capital of the company shall have received the amount paid up on each such ‘Other’ share held and the payment in cash or in specie of £100,000 (or its equivalent in any other currency) on each such ‘Other’ shares held.
“The company shall have an irrevocable authority from each holder of the deferred shares at any time to purchase all or any of the deferred shares without obtaining the consent of the deferred shareholders in consideration of the payment of an amount not exceeding one US$ cent in respect of all of the deferred shares then being purchased.”
The notification also stated that the AGM and Form of Proxy for the AGM have each been sent or made available to shareholders under the cover of a letter from our Chair, Mr. Sunil Bharti Mittal.
“The second largest mobile telecom operator in Nigeria declared a net profit of $750 million (about N347 billion) for the financial year ended March 31, 2023”
“The Company’s AGM will be held at 11.00am (UK time) on 4 July 2023 at First Floor, 53/54 Grosvenor Street, London, W1K 3HU and electronically via the Computershare platform,” Mr. O’Hara stated.
A review of the group’s operating key performance indicators for the financial year ended March 31, 2023, showed that total customer base grew by 9.0 percent to 140 million, as the penetration of mobile data and mobile money services continued to rise, driving a 16.9 percent increase in data customers to 54.6 million and a 20.4 percent increase in mobile money customers to 31.5 million.
Constant currency ARPU growth of 7.4 percent was largely driven by increased usage across voice, data and mobile money.
The mobile money transaction value increased by 41.3 percent, with Q4’23 annualized transaction value exceeding $102bn in constant currency.
Financial performance indicated that revenue in constant currency grew by 17.6 percent, with revenues growing by 11.5 percent to $5,255m in reported currency.
While each segment’s reported currency revenue growth was impacted by currency devaluation, they all delivered double-digit constant currency revenue growth.
Across the Group mobile service revenue grew by 16.2 percent in constant currency, driven by voice revenue growth of 11.8 percent and data revenue growth of 23.8 percent. Mobile money revenue grew by 29.6 percent in constant currency.
Profit after tax was $750m, a decrease of only $5m, after including a higher foreign exchange and derivative losses of $245m.
Basic EPS at 17.7 cents was up by 5.2 percent due to higher operating profits and exceptional items gain on deferred tax credit recognition in Kenya, the DRC and Tanzania partially offset by higher foreign exchange and derivative losses.
EPS before exceptional items was 13.6 cents, a reduction of 15.0 percent, largely due to higher foreign exchange and derivative losses of $245m. EPS before exceptional items and excluding foreign exchange and derivative losses was 20.6 cents, up by 13.4 percent.
Olusegun Ogunsanya, chief executive officer, commenting on the trading update, said: “Over the last year, the operating environment has been challenging in many ways, yet our strategic focus on providing reliable, affordable and accessible services across our markets has enabled us to sustain our top-line growth momentum. The resilience of our underlying EBITDA margins has shown the effectiveness of our operating model, despite significant inflationary and foreign exchange pressures. Strong customer and ARPU growth over the year demonstrates that demand for our services remains very strong and gives us the confidence to continue investing to support our future growth potential.”