A new financial report has for the first time revealed the financial position of local telecoms firm, Airtel Kenya.
According to the report, Airtel made a loss after tax of Sh.8.1 billion following debts that run up to Sh. 45 billion in the 2016 financial year.
The firm’s current liabilities of Sh. 55.3 billion in the year to December 2016 far exceeded its current assets worth Sh. 9.7 billion, indicating Kenya’s second largest telecoms operator is technically insolvent.
It’s current ratio – an accounting standard used to measure liquidity position – stood at 0.18.
“These conditions give rise to a material uncertainty, which may cast significant doubt on the company’s ability to continue as a going concern, and therefore that it may be unable to realize its assets and discharge liabilities in the normal course of business,” a note accompanying the statements says.
In 2015, Airtel had posted a profit of Sh. 7.1 billion following the sale of its building in Nairobi.
The 2016 loss, though,means that Airtel would not have been able to meet its financial obligations even if it had sold off its assets.
Airtel Kenya is owned, through holding companies, by Indian multinational Bharti Airtel, which has a presence in 15 African countries.
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