IHS Holding reports Q4 pre-tax profit of $236 million, full-year loss at $1.61 billion

IHS Holding Ltd. (IHS) has reported a pre-tax profit of $236.35 million in its fourth quarter of 2024, a significant turnaround from the pre-tax loss of $438.41 million recorded in the same period last year.

The telecommunications infrastructure company generated $437.82 million in revenue for Q4 2024, compared to $509.78 million in Q4 2023, reflecting a decline in top-line performance.

However, despite the quarterly profitability, full-year 2024 results show a pre-tax loss of $1.61 billion, translating to a loss per share of $4.90. Annual revenue came in at $1.71 billion, down from $2.13 billion in 2023.

Key Highlights: (2024 FY vs. 2023 FY)      Revenue: $1.711 billion -19.48% YoY      Cost of sales: $890.533 million -24.74% YoY      Adjusted EBITDA: $928.4 million -18.02% YoY      Administrative expenses: $429.818 million, +5.40% YoY      Operating income: $479.147 million -9.71%      Finance Income: $33.747 million +33.87% YoY      Finance cost: $2.123 billion -12.88% YoY      Loss for the period:  $1.644 billion -17.30% YoY      Income loss per share:  $4.90 -17.37% YoY      Cash and cash equivalents:  $577.956 million +96.70% YoY      Total assets: $4.277 billion -20.28% YoY      Total equity:  -$295.809 million -185.16% YoYCEO’s StatementSan Darwish, Chairman and CEO of IHS Towers, commented on the results:

“We are reporting a strong performance in the fourth quarter, with our key metrics revenue, Adjusted EBITDA, and ALFCF all ahead of our guidance, while Total Capex was below expectations, and we saw a drop in our consolidated net leverage ratio. 

We believe our positive momentum reflects both the continued strong secular trends we are seeing across our business, a more stable macroeconomic environment, as well as the significant commercial and financial progress we have made during 2024 as part of our ongoing strategic review.”

Financial highlights:

Full-year 2024 revenue declined by 19.48% but increased 48.1% on an organic basis, primarily due to the 57% devaluation of the Nigerian Naira, which had a non-core impact on results.

Organic growth was driven by:

  6.5% Constant Currency growth, fueled by continued revenue gains from Colocation, Lease Amendments, and New Sites.  Additional contributions from FX resets and power indexation.Full-year loss totaled $1.644 billion, of which $1.610 billion was attributable to unrealized FX losses.

Nigeria’s role in performanceNigeria remained a key revenue and EBITDA driver for IHS Holding:

In Q4 2024, Nigeria contributed 59% ($258.87 million) to the group’s total quarterly revenue of $437.82 million.However, revenue from Nigeria fell by 19% YoY, driven by the Naira’s devaluation against the U.S. dollar.Nigeria also accounted for 63% ($154.87 million) of the group’s quarterly EBITDA of $246.37 million in Q4 2024.Despite Nigeria’s continued significance, quarterly revenue declined by 14.1%.About IHS TowersIHS Towers is one of the world’s largest independent owners, operators, and developers of shared communications infrastructure by tower count.

The company operates in eight emerging markets, with a portfolio of over 39,000 towers across:

Africa: Nigeria, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Rwanda, South Africa, and Zambia.Latin America: Brazil and Colombia.

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