 "In Africa, Bharti shifts focus from volume to value")
The Sunil Mittal-led Bharti Airtel is shifting from a volume-based strategy to a value one in Africa.
Africa has been a higher average-revenue-per-user (ARPU) market.
For the September quarter, it saw signs of growth in Africa after three quarters on a shift from just customer acquisition. Now, the strategy involves focusing on markets with high-value customers and high-ARPU retail customers. The company is trying to draw people to data-based services.
“Initially, Airtel needed to grab subscriber market share to penetrate the market. Now, it is time to inculcate value out of it,” said an analyst with a management consulting firm.
During the quarter, Airtel’s customer base in Africa increased three per cent, while the monthly churn dropped to 6.6 per cent from 6.7 per cent the previous quarter. Voice ARPU increased four per cent, while voice usage a customer rose seven per cent compared to the previous quarter. During the quarter, data customer base increased 13 per cent; at $1.5, a 15 per cent increase was seen in data ARPU, while data usage per customer increased 21 per cent. Total data usage on the network jumped 34 per cent. Year-on-year, data ARPU rose 46 per cent, and total MB on network increased 97 per cent. But, voice ARPU declined 15 per cent on the year-on-year basis. “Clearly, Airtel is focusing on data-based services, which is the under-penetrated segment and would boost net realisation in the coming quarters,” said a telecom analyst with a management consulting firm.
Meanwhile, Airtel’s net realisation in Africa, voice and data, fell in July-September. While voice realisation dipped two per cent to 3.3 cents, data realisation (an MB) dropped four per cent to 1.74 cents, compared to the previous quarter. “After three tough quarters, the Africa market is again buzzing and showing good growth momentum. The mobile customer base is growing again, rates are stable, mobile internet is growing and mobile commerce is booming,” Managing Director Manoj Kohli had said, after announcing the quarterly results.
Revenue from Africa operations rose two per cent to $1.1 billion during the quarter, against $1.09 billion a year ago.
Quarter-on-quarter revenue growth for the Africa business was about 5.4 per cent, primarily backed by net addition of about 2.18 million subscribers and a rise of seven per cent in minutes of usage on the network. At 29.6 per cent, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) margins for the Africa business were almost flat.
“The revenue growth in Africa reflects the inherent potential in the world’s most promising continent. I am also pleased to see the evolution of Airtel Money, a significant service in geographies that are relatively under-banked,” Mittal had said in a statement.
A Bharti Airtel spokesperson said, “For us, Africa is a growth market and we are there for the long term. We have always said we wanted to bring affordable and innovative services to Africa and that is what we are investing in. We have already done the hard work by overhauling the network and technology across our operations, and are now focused on growing the market. We have the largest 3G network in Africa, across 14 countries, and have rolled out Airtel Money across all our 17 markets.”
Currently, Bharti Airtel is the market leader in more than 10 of the 17 countries in Africa in which it is present. In Nigeria, which contributes about 35 per cent to Bharti Airtel’s Africa sales, it is expected to become the second-largest player soon. In April, the company had a 20.2 per cent market share in Nigeria, followed by MTN (44.1 per cent) and Globacom (20.3 per cent), according to data published by the industry regulator in Africa.
“Bharti Airtel entered Africa in June 2010, when the overall wireless market was growing in high double digits. Now, this has come down a little, given the economic slowdown the continent has seen over the past 12-18 months. Our revenue growth has been better than the overall market growth and the good news is on a marked-to-market basis, we have done far better than most of our key competitors. Reaching the $5-billion revenue mark was a target we had set for ourselves and that remains. We continue to be optimistic on Africa, which is the last growth market in global telecom,” said a company spokesperson.
In an analysis, Standard Chartered said the Africa business showed signs of a revival and was likely to generate enough cash flows to service interest on acquisition debt.
“If the market environment does not change drastically, Bharti’s Africa business is expected to generate cash over the next two to three quarters cumulatively,” said an analyst with a management consulting firm.
The company has already changed the operational structure in Africa, including having country-specific CEOs for each of the 17 countries to ensure focus on each market. It has also made a few tucked-in acquisitions (the most recent was the acquisition Warid’s business in Congo). “This helps the company to ensure the No 1 position the markets where it wants to grow,” said an analyst with a brokerage firm.
“Our recent in-market acquisitions in Uganda and Congo have worked well. We will definitely look at more opportunities, provided there is a strategic fit and it strengthens our market leadership and profitability,” said a Bharti Airtel spokesperson.
Bharti should concentrate on a few markets where penetration was low, but ARPU was better, said a telecom analyst with a management consulting firm. “In markets, where it is not No 1 or No 2 in terms of subscribers, it should try to increase revenue market share, and in markets where it does not have that position, even in terms of subscriber base, it may consider possible disposals,” he said. A Bharti spokesperson, however, denied any possibility of sale.
The spokesperson said, “We should take a holistic view on debt. If you look at our current debt/Ebitda ratio of 2.2 (down from about three in 2011), we are in a very comfortable position, given the size and strength of our balance sheet. The company continues to generate strong free cash flows and funds are absolutely not a problem. The recent investment by a marquee investor such as the Qatar Endowment Fund and the success of our recent bond issues underline the strength of our growth story,” said the spokesperson.
Africa has been a higher average-revenue-per-user (ARPU) market.
For the September quarter, it saw signs of growth in Africa after three quarters on a shift from just customer acquisition. Now, the strategy involves focusing on markets with high-value customers and high-ARPU retail customers. The company is trying to draw people to data-based services.
“Initially, Airtel needed to grab subscriber market share to penetrate the market. Now, it is time to inculcate value out of it,” said an analyst with a management consulting firm.
During the quarter, Airtel’s customer base in Africa increased three per cent, while the monthly churn dropped to 6.6 per cent from 6.7 per cent the previous quarter. Voice ARPU increased four per cent, while voice usage a customer rose seven per cent compared to the previous quarter. During the quarter, data customer base increased 13 per cent; at $1.5, a 15 per cent increase was seen in data ARPU, while data usage per customer increased 21 per cent. Total data usage on the network jumped 34 per cent. Year-on-year, data ARPU rose 46 per cent, and total MB on network increased 97 per cent. But, voice ARPU declined 15 per cent on the year-on-year basis. “Clearly, Airtel is focusing on data-based services, which is the under-penetrated segment and would boost net realisation in the coming quarters,” said a telecom analyst with a management consulting firm.
Meanwhile, Airtel’s net realisation in Africa, voice and data, fell in July-September. While voice realisation dipped two per cent to 3.3 cents, data realisation (an MB) dropped four per cent to 1.74 cents, compared to the previous quarter. “After three tough quarters, the Africa market is again buzzing and showing good growth momentum. The mobile customer base is growing again, rates are stable, mobile internet is growing and mobile commerce is booming,” Managing Director Manoj Kohli had said, after announcing the quarterly results.
Revenue from Africa operations rose two per cent to $1.1 billion during the quarter, against $1.09 billion a year ago.
Quarter-on-quarter revenue growth for the Africa business was about 5.4 per cent, primarily backed by net addition of about 2.18 million subscribers and a rise of seven per cent in minutes of usage on the network. At 29.6 per cent, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) margins for the Africa business were almost flat.
“The revenue growth in Africa reflects the inherent potential in the world’s most promising continent. I am also pleased to see the evolution of Airtel Money, a significant service in geographies that are relatively under-banked,” Mittal had said in a statement.
A Bharti Airtel spokesperson said, “For us, Africa is a growth market and we are there for the long term. We have always said we wanted to bring affordable and innovative services to Africa and that is what we are investing in. We have already done the hard work by overhauling the network and technology across our operations, and are now focused on growing the market. We have the largest 3G network in Africa, across 14 countries, and have rolled out Airtel Money across all our 17 markets.”
Currently, Bharti Airtel is the market leader in more than 10 of the 17 countries in Africa in which it is present. In Nigeria, which contributes about 35 per cent to Bharti Airtel’s Africa sales, it is expected to become the second-largest player soon. In April, the company had a 20.2 per cent market share in Nigeria, followed by MTN (44.1 per cent) and Globacom (20.3 per cent), according to data published by the industry regulator in Africa.
“Bharti Airtel entered Africa in June 2010, when the overall wireless market was growing in high double digits. Now, this has come down a little, given the economic slowdown the continent has seen over the past 12-18 months. Our revenue growth has been better than the overall market growth and the good news is on a marked-to-market basis, we have done far better than most of our key competitors. Reaching the $5-billion revenue mark was a target we had set for ourselves and that remains. We continue to be optimistic on Africa, which is the last growth market in global telecom,” said a company spokesperson.
In an analysis, Standard Chartered said the Africa business showed signs of a revival and was likely to generate enough cash flows to service interest on acquisition debt.
“If the market environment does not change drastically, Bharti’s Africa business is expected to generate cash over the next two to three quarters cumulatively,” said an analyst with a management consulting firm.
The company has already changed the operational structure in Africa, including having country-specific CEOs for each of the 17 countries to ensure focus on each market. It has also made a few tucked-in acquisitions (the most recent was the acquisition Warid’s business in Congo). “This helps the company to ensure the No 1 position the markets where it wants to grow,” said an analyst with a brokerage firm.
“Our recent in-market acquisitions in Uganda and Congo have worked well. We will definitely look at more opportunities, provided there is a strategic fit and it strengthens our market leadership and profitability,” said a Bharti Airtel spokesperson.
Bharti should concentrate on a few markets where penetration was low, but ARPU was better, said a telecom analyst with a management consulting firm. “In markets, where it is not No 1 or No 2 in terms of subscribers, it should try to increase revenue market share, and in markets where it does not have that position, even in terms of subscriber base, it may consider possible disposals,” he said. A Bharti spokesperson, however, denied any possibility of sale.
The spokesperson said, “We should take a holistic view on debt. If you look at our current debt/Ebitda ratio of 2.2 (down from about three in 2011), we are in a very comfortable position, given the size and strength of our balance sheet. The company continues to generate strong free cash flows and funds are absolutely not a problem. The recent investment by a marquee investor such as the Qatar Endowment Fund and the success of our recent bond issues underline the strength of our growth story,” said the spokesperson.