Airtel Africa Plc Acquires 991,861 Ordinary Shares From Citigroup

Airtel Africa Plc recently purchased 491,861 units of its ordinary shares at the cost of $0.50 each on the London Stock Exchange from Citigroup Global Markets Limited following the acceptance of its shareholders as part of its share buy-back programme.

The transaction details for these shares were announced on March 1, 2024. The lowest price paid per share was (GBp) 96.10, while the highest price paid per share was (GBp) 97.65. The volume-weighted average price paid (GBp) was 97.14.

On Monday, Airtel Africa said, "The purchased ordinary shares will be cancelled. Since the share buy-back programme was announced on March 1, 2024, the company has purchased 491,861 ordinary shares in aggregate at a volume-weighted average price of GBP 97.14 per ordinary share."

Since the start of this week, when Airtel Africa initiated its share buy-back programme on March 1, 2024, the firm has acquired 991,861 ordinary shares in aggregate from Citigroup Global Markets Limited (Citi).

Airtel Africa also agreed with Citigroup Global Markets Limited to conduct the first buy-back tranche and carry out on-market purchases of its ordinary shares. The company subsequently purchased its ordinary shares from Citi.

Under this agreement, Citi acts as a riskless principal and makes decisions independently of the company.

The table, which contains detailed information on the individual trades made by Citigroup Global Markets Limited as part of the buy-back programme, shows that on March 4, Airtel Africa purchased 500,000 units, while on March 1, it purchased 491,861 shares.

The goal of the buy-back programme is to reduce the company's capital. As such, all shares purchased under the buy-back programme will be cancelled.

Airtel Africa started its share buy-back programme after its announcement on February 1, 2024, following its nine-month results on March 31, 2023. The results' publication, which commenced on March 1, will return up to $100 million to shareholders for up to 12 months.

While the March 4 buy-back had a volume-weighted average price of GBp 97.07 per ordinary share, the March 1 buy-back had a volume-weighted average price of GBp 97.14 per ordinary share.

The share buy-back programme is expected to be phased over two tranches, with the ongoing first tranche anticipated to end on or before August 31, 2024. This first tranche will amount to a maximum of $50 million.

This buy-back programme reflects the significant progress made in recent years to reduce leverage and strengthen the Company's balance sheet. In light of the cash accretion at the holding company level, the current leverage, and the consistently strong operating cash generation, Airtel Africa is well positioned to undertake this share buy-back to enhance shareholder returns, consistent with its existing capital allocation policy.

The current share price of Airtel Africa Plc (AIRTELAFRI) is NGN 2,200.00. AIRTELAFRI closed its last trading day (Tuesday, March 5, 2024) at 2,200.00 NGN per share.