Airtel Africa Plc says a sensitivity analysis has shown that a 1% devaluation of the naira will result in a $22 million drop in its revenue over a year.
The telecoms firm said its Ebitda (Earnings before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation) will also fall by $12 million.
The company however welcomed last week’s decision of the Central Bank of Nigeria to remove controls and allow the currency to trade more freely and be determined by market forces.
The government say its aim in unifying the exchange rates used previously is to encourage foreign investment into the country.
Companies and investors expect that the new policy will bring in more dollar into the economy, increase liquidity, and make access easier.
“Airtel Africa welcomes these changes as a positive move towards a more stable Nigerian FX market,” the company said in a stock exchange filing in Lagos on Tuesday.
The naira weakened to over 800 to the dollar on Monday in the investors and exporters window, its lowest on the official window ever.
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Airtel Africa operates in 14 African countries and in Nigeria, its biggest market, it has 60 million subscribers and 27% market share.
The company rolled out 5G network service on Monday.
Airtel Africa said the weighted average exchange rate it used in the profit and loss statement for the 12 months ended 31 March 2023 was approximately N440 NGN to a dollar, and the rate used for its balance sheet as of 31 March 2023 was N461.4 a dollar.
On Wednesday it said the exchange rate it will use to pay dividends to its shareholders is 1 USD = N680.2.
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