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Airtel Africa PLC on Thursday said the impact of a foreign exchange loss hurt its quarterly profit, but saw revenue grow on strong performance across its divisions. For the three months ended June 30, the London-based, Africa-focused telecommunications company swung to a pretax loss of $221 million from a profit of $276 million a year prior. This was largely attributed to finance costs of $317 million related to the devaluation of the Nigerian naira in June. Revenue, meanwhile, rose 9.6% to $1.38 billion from $1.26 billion a year prior, with a constant currency growth of 20%. This was related to expansion across all segments throughout the period, Airtel explained, with mobile services revenue rising by 19%, voice revenue up by 12% and data revenue up by 30%. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation in the quarter was up by 11% to $682 million from $614 million the year before. Ebitda margin grew to 50% from 49% in the first quarter of financial 2023. Chief Executive Officer Olusegun Ogunsanya said: ‘Our focus remains on areas which we can control: the provision of reliable telecom and mobile money services, at affordable rates, across our 14 sub-Saharan markets in Africa where demand for these services remains significant. ‘The excellent operating performance over the last quarter highlights this success, and we are well positioned to deliver against the growth opportunities these markets offer, with a continued focus on margin resilience.’ Shares in Airtel Africa were up 2.9% at 112.90 pence each in London on Thursday morning. Copyright 2023 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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