Airtel Uganda, one of the leading telecommunications companies in Uganda, has announced its intention to offload the remaining shares from its previously undersubscribed initial public offering (IPO) in order to fulfill the country’s regulatory mandates. During the IPO in 2023, Airtel Uganda managed to sell only 54.45% of the available 8 billion shares, falling short of the USh800 billion ($216.22 million) target.
In accordance with Uganda’s broadband policy, telecom companies are mandated to list a minimum of 20% of their shares on the Uganda Securities Exchange. David Birungi, the spokesperson for Airtel Uganda, reaffirmed the company’s dedication to complying with this regulation, outlining a plan to meet the listing requirement by November 2026, which allows a two-year period for compliance.
The IPO is a strategic move by Airtel Uganda to strengthen its financial base and expand its services throughout the nation. The capital raised from the IPO is earmarked for enhancing the telco’s network infrastructure, elevating the quality of services provided, and rolling out new and innovative offerings to cater to the changing demands of its customer base.
In a financial update for March 2024, Airtel Uganda announced a final dividend payout of USh86 billion ($22 million), despite experiencing a 9.6% drop in profits for the fiscal year ending December 2023. However, the company witnessed an 11.5% increase in total revenues, amounting to Ush1.7 trillion ($455 million), buoyed by strong performances in its primary voice and data segments.
The company expressed pride in its financial achievements for the year 2023, highlighting a significant revenue growth to Ushs 1,784 billion, marking an 11.5% increase from the Ushs 1,599 billion recorded in 2022, thereby exceeding its revenue projections for the year.
Airtel Uganda, boasting a substantial customer base of over 14 million active subscribers across 146 districts, recently became the second telecom operator to be listed on the Ugandan stock exchange. This follows the footsteps of MTN Uganda, which is primarily owned by South Africa’s MTN Group and made its debut on the stock market in December 2021.
Originally entering the Ugandan scene as Celtel Uganda in 1995, Airtel was the first mobile cellular network in the country and has experienced rapid growth since its inception.
In a notable development in June 2024, MTN Uganda, Airtel’s main rival, announced that the demand for the leftover shares from its 2021 Initial Public Offering (IPO) had nearly doubled the expectations. The company received bids for 3 billion shares, far surpassing the 1.6 billion shares that were available. The shares sold account for 7.03% of MTN Uganda’s total equity.
