Airtel Africa on Friday posted nearly 57 percent drop in net profit to USD 57 million (about Rs 427 crore) for three months ended June 30, and said business was impacted by COVID-19 pandemic. Revenue rose by 6.9 percent to USD 851 million (about Rs 6,382 crore) in June quarter, with constant currency revenue growth of 13 percent, Airtel Africa said in a statement.

Profit after tax for June 2020 quarter came in at USD 57 million, down by 56.9 percent over same period previous year, largely as a result of a one-off gain of USD 72 million related to the expired indemnity to certain pre-IPO investors in the same period last year, higher finance costs, and tax.

Raghunath Mandava, chief executive officer of Airtel Africa said the "outlook remains uncertain", particularly regarding a "so called potential second wave of infections and the actions governments will decide to take in that event".

"However, these results are further evidence of the growth opportunities our markets offer and the effectiveness of our strategy to focus on winning customers, investing in our network and expanding our voice, data and mobile money businesses," he said.

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Mandava further said business, during the last quarter, was impacted by COVID-19 pandemic, as restrictions on movements of people and ways of socialising were introduced to contain the spread of infection.

The pandemic impacted customer usage pattern during the month of April, but as some restrictions started to be lifted, customer usage trends in May and June returned to being broadly consistent with pre COVID-19 trends, Mandava noted.

Customer base grew by nearly 12 percent to 111.5 million, the company said, adding that revenue growth was recorded across all key business segments, including voice, data and mobile money.

First Published:Jul 24, 2020 3:29 PM IST