Airtel's Africa operations post USD 89 mn profit in Jan-Mar

Airtel Africa, a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel that provides services in Africa, Tuesday posted a net profit of USD 89 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2019, on account of increase in data consumption and Airtel Money penetration. The company had posted a loss of USD 33 million in the same period a year ago.

Its revenue increased by 6 per cent to USD 781 million during the reported quarter from USD 736 million in the corresponding period of 2017-18. "Increase in Data & Airtel Money penetration led to faster net

revenue growth," Airtel Africa said in its quarterly report. For the year ended March 31, 2019, Airtel Africa posted a profit of USD 412 million while it had reported a loss of USD 138 million a year ago.

Revenue increased by 5.73 per cent to USD 3,077 million in 2018-19 from USD 2,910 million in 2017-18, the company said.