Nigeria, May 8 -- Airtel Africa plotted its way back to profitability as it turned $328 million in net profit for the last financial year, not so much by expanding revenue as by cutting down the weighty fx losses that dogged performance in the preceding year.

Its unaudited earnings report out on Thursday revealed turnover retreated by 0.5 per cent to $4.96 billion after income from both voice and data services dropped.

That factor, alongside an increase in operational expenditure, led to an 11.1 per cent slide in operating profit to $1.5 billion.

Airtel Africa's share price was flat in Lagos as of 12:48 WAT, following the news, staying unchanged at N2,156.9 per unit as it has been since 6 November.

In London, where the stock is dual-l...