Telecommunication Company, Airtel Africa is projected to lose $14m revenue and $8m in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, to Naira devaluation.
This will heavily impact the financials of the company which operates across 14 markets in Africa, and has Nigeria as its biggest financial exposure.
This was even as the company had earlier projected that the Naira will be devalued by 1% in its first quarter financial statement.
The company’s revenue and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, will both be caught between government and the Central Bank of Nigeria’s policy change, as well as the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The global economic slowdown combined with lower oil and commodity prices has resulted in currencies devaluing across our markets, including the Nigerian naira, Kenyan shilling and Zambian kwacha,” Airtel said in a statement.
“On a 12-month basis, we estimate that a 1% Nigerian naira devaluation will have a negative $14m impact on revenue, $8m on underlying EBITDA and $6m on finance costs,” it added.
While Airtel, like its rival, MTN Nigeria, have directly gained from the Covid-19 pandemic with increased data and voice usage, it will experience a negative impact indirectly from country policies.
