Airtel Africa to enter FTSE 100 from January 31

Bharti Airtel's subsidiary Airtel Africa has been made a part of the Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index or FTSE 100 Index effective Monday, 31 January 2022, the carrier said in a statement Thursday. 

“This is a significant milestone for Airtel Africa, which becomes part of the FTSE 100 in just two and a half years of listing on the London Stock Exchange joining the most valuable companies. Airtel Africa is a strong player in the African continent, which has emerged as the next growth frontier globally,” said Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman, Bharti Airtel.   

Airtel Africa, which began operations in 2010 and listed on the London Stock Exchange in June 2019, has a market capitalisation of over $7.5 billion with enterprise value at $10.7 billion. 

For half-year ended 30 September 2021, Airtel Africa’s revenue grew by 25.2% to $2.27 billion with double digit growth across all regions. For the period its net profit doubled to $335 million while its leverage reduced to 1.5x from 2.2x. Through its mobile telecoms and mobile money services, Airtel Africa plc is transforming lives of over 122 million people across the 14 African markets in which it operates. 

Mittal said that Africa operations have had a stellar turnaround under Airtel veteran Raghu Mandava who along with his team spent five years in reshaping the strategy in Africa. 

"We continue to invest aggressively and execute our growth strategy under the new MD&CEO Segun Ogunsanya to deliver on the significant market potential afforded by Africa and strengthen Airtel’s position as one the biggest global brands out of India," Mittal added.