IHS Holding Ltd (IHS) 2023 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and welcome to the IHS Holding Limited Earnings Results Call for the 3-month period ending March 31, 2023. Please note that today's conference is being webcast and recorded. (Operator Instructions) At this time, I'd like to turn the conference over to Colby Synesael. Please go ahead, sir.

美好的一天，歡迎來到 IHS Holding Limited 截至 2023 年 3 月 31 日的 3 個月期間的收益結果電話會議。請注意，今天的會議正在進行網絡直播和錄製。 （操作員說明）此時，我想將會議轉交給 Colby Synesael。請繼續，先生。

Thank you, operator. Thanks also to everyone for joining the call today. I'm Colby Synesael, EVP of Communications here at IHS. With me today are Sam Darwish, our Chairman and CEO; and Steve Howden, our CFO. This morning, we published our unaudited financial statements for the 3-month period ended March 31, 2023, on the Investor Relations section of our website and issued a related earnings release and presentation. These are the consolidated results of IHS Holding Ltd, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol IHS, which comprises the entirety of the group's operations. Before we discuss the results, I would like to draw your attention to the disclaimer at the beginning of the presentation on Slide 2, which should be read in full, along with the cautionary statement regarding forward-looking statements set up in our earnings release and 6-K filed as well today.

謝謝你，運營商。也感謝大家今天加入電話會議。我是 IHS 的通信執行副總裁 Colby Synesael。今天和我在一起的是我們的董事長兼首席執行官 Sam Darwish；和我們的首席財務官 Steve Howden。今天上午，我們在我們網站的投資者關係部分發布了截至 2023 年 3 月 31 日的三個月未經審計的財務報表，並發布了相關的收益發布和演示文稿。這些是 IHS Holding Ltd 的綜合業績，該公司在紐約證券交易所上市，股票代碼為 IHS，包括集團的全部業務。在我們討論結果之前，我想提請您注意幻燈片 2 演示文稿開頭的免責聲明，應完整閱讀該聲明，以及關於我們在收益發布中設立的前瞻性陳述的警告聲明和今天也提交了 6-K。

In particular, the information to be discussed may contain forward-looking statements, which, by their nature, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors, some of which are beyond our control that are difficult to predict and other factors which may cause actual results, performance or achievements or industry results to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements or industry results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including those discussed in the Risk Factors section of our Form 20-F filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and other filings with the SEC.

特別是，所討論的信息可能包含前瞻性陳述，這些陳述就其性質而言，涉及已知和未知的風險、不確定性和其他重要因素，其中一些是我們無法控制的難以預測的因素和其他可能的因素導致實際結果、業績或成就或行業結果與此類前瞻性陳述明示或暗示的任何未來結果、業績或成就或行業結果存在重大差異，包括我們提交的 20-F 表格的風險因素部分中討論的結果與美國證券交易委員會以及向美國證券交易委員會提交的其他文件。

We'll also refer to non-IFRS measures that we view as important in assessing the performance of our business. Reconciliation of non-IFRS metrics to the nearest IFRS metrics can be found in our earnings presentation, which is available on the Investor Relations section of our website. And with that, I'd like to turn the call over to Sam Darwish, our Chairman and CEO.

我們還將參考我們認為對評估我們的業務績效很重要的非 IFRS 措施。非 IFRS 指標與最接近的 IFRS 指標的對賬可以在我們的收益報告中找到，該報告可在我們網站的投資者關係部分找到。說到這裡，我想把電話轉給我們的董事長兼首席執行官 Sam Darwish。

Thanks, Colby, and welcome, everyone, to our first quarter 2023 earnings results call. We had another strong quarter with growth primarily driven by a sequential step-up from new lease amendments, escalators and ForEx resets while growth from power moderated, all as expected. Results also included a $48 million onetime benefit to revenue and adjusted EBITDA from our smallest key customer in Nigeria, inclusive of $5 million additional withholding tax gross up and a $43 million onetime benefit to RLFCF. Lastly, Q1 results included a $9 million ForEx tailwind versus rates previously assumed in guidance, all positive.

謝謝，科爾比，歡迎大家參加我們 2023 年第一季度的財報電話會議。我們又迎來了一個強勁的季度，增長主要是由新租約修訂、自動扶梯和 ForEx 重置的連續升級推動的，而電力增長放緩，這一切都符合預期。結果還包括來自我們在尼日利亞的最小主要客戶的 4800 萬美元的一次性收益和調整後的 EBITDA，包括 500 萬美元的額外預扣稅總額和 RLFCF 的 4300 萬美元的一次性收益。最後，第一季度的結果包括 900 萬美元的 ForEx 順風與先前在指導中假設的利率相比，都是積極的。

We are reiterating our 2023 guidance for all our key metrics, including revenue, adjusted EBITDA, RLFCF and CapEx that we issued in March. We recognize the modest upside from the $5 million withholding tax benefit in Q1 and that our updated ForEx rates now assumed in guidance implied $14 million upside versus rates previously assumed in guidance.

我們重申我們在 3 月份發布的所有關鍵指標的 2023 年指南，包括收入、調整後的 EBITDA、RLFCF 和資本支出。我們認識到第一季度 500 萬美元的預扣稅優惠帶來的適度上行空間，並且我們更新後的外匯匯率現在在指導中假設，這意味著與之前在指導中假設的匯率相比，有 1400 萬美元的上行空間。

However, given ForEx rates in emerging markets can be volatile and that a notable risk of Naira devaluation this year exists, we think it's important we remain prudent in our approach and not increase our guidance. Overall, we remain on track to achieve our goals for 2023.

然而，鑑於新興市場的外匯匯率可能會波動，並且今年存在奈拉貶值的顯著風險，我們認為重要的是我們在我們的方法中保持謹慎而不是增加我們的指導。總體而言，我們仍有望實現 2023 年的目標。

Skipping to Slide 7. I want to discuss some of our key highlights for the quarter. Starting with Nigeria, President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu is expected to be sworn in as Nigeria's next President on May 29. We wish Mr. Tinubu much success and continue to be cautiously optimistic about the economic issues he has said he intends to address. More specific to IHS, we completed the upstreaming that began last quarter and resulted in an incremental $15 million upstream in Q1. We're also pleased to announce today that subsequent to quarter end, we have upstreamed an additional $50 million. Lastly, on Nigeria, during Q1, we elected to rationalize 727 towers occupied by our smallest key customer, where we were not recognizing revenue, but we're incurring costs. This was as expected and will help drive cost savings, a positive development.

跳到幻燈片 7。我想討論我們本季度的一些主要亮點。從尼日利亞開始，當選總統博拉·艾哈邁德·廷努布預計將於 5 月 29 日宣誓就任尼日利亞下一任總統。我們祝愿廷努布先生取得圓滿成功，並對他表示打算解決的經濟問題繼續保持謹慎樂觀的態度。更具體到 IHS，我們完成了上個季度開始的上游，並在第一季度增加了 1500 萬美元的上游。我們今天也很高興地宣布，在季度末之後，我們又追加了 5000 萬美元。最後，在尼日利亞，在第一季度，我們選擇對我們最小的主要客戶佔用的 727 座塔樓進行合理化處理，我們沒有在這些地方確認收入，但我們正在承擔成本。這符合預期，將有助於推動成本節約，這是一個積極的發展。

In South Africa, our acquisition of nearly 6,000 towers from MTN a year ago, immediately made us the largest independent tower operator in the country. As we stated last quarter and given various dynamics in the market, including an unprecedented level of load shedding that has occurred in the country post deal close. We continue to evaluate our power services opportunities, and we'll update you as appropriate and if necessary.

在南非，我們一年前從 MTN 收購了近 6,000 座鐵塔，立即使我們成為該國最大的獨立鐵塔運營商。正如我們上個季度所述，並考慮到市場的各種動態，包括交易完成後該國發生的前所未有的減載水平。我們將繼續評估我們的電力服務機會，並會在必要時酌情更新您的信息。

Moving on the Block B shares, which equates to just over 60 million shares became available to trade without the registered offering requirement on April 14 and another 120 million-plus shares will become available in October 2023, including Block C and D. After taking initial steps in 2022 to help improve stock liquidity, including waiving the registered offering requirement last May, we believe the releases of Block B, C and D this year may further help our trading volumes, and we continue to evaluate options that we believe will enhance the value of the company.

4 月 14 日，B 股超過 6000 萬股無需註冊發行要求即可交易，另外 1.2 億多股將於 2023 年 10 月上市，包括 C 股和 D 股。在 2022 年採取措施幫助提高股票流動性，包括去年 5 月免除註冊發行要求，我們認為今年 B、C 和 D 塊的發布可能會進一步幫助我們的交易量，我們將繼續評估我們認為將增強的選項公司的價值。

At the same time, we continue to focus on delivering against our publicly stated fundamental objectives and building a track record with investors. Lastly, as previously disclosed, during Q1, we entered into a Naira denominated term loan and RLFCF as we look to increase the percent of our debt health in local currency or more specifically the Naira in anticipation of a potential Naira devaluation.

與此同時，我們繼續專注於實現我們公開聲明的基本目標，並在投資者中建立良好的記錄。最後，正如之前披露的那樣，在第一季度，我們簽訂了以奈拉計價的定期貸款和 RLFCF，因為我們希望增加以當地貨幣或更具體地說是奈拉計價的債務健康百分比，以預期奈拉可能貶值。

Overall, we continue to take a disciplined approach to capital deployment, recognizing the importance of maintaining a strong balance sheet. This includes net leverage of 3.1x at the low end of our 3x to 4x target and no meaningful maturities due until Q4 '25. While we continue to optimize our balance sheet, we are generally happy with where we are.

總的來說，我們繼續對資本配置採取嚴格的方法，認識到維持穩健資產負債表的重要性。這包括我們 3 至 4 倍目標低端的 3.1 倍淨槓桿率，以及在 25 年第四季度之前沒有到期的有意義的到期日。在我們繼續優化資產負債表的同時，我們總體上對目前的狀況感到滿意。

Quickly, you see on Slide 8 that we expect to publish our 2022 sustainability report later this quarter, which will be our fifth year of doing so. The 2022 sustainability report will be our first year reporting under the GRI framework demonstrating our continued evolution and sustainability reporting at IHS. And with that, I will turn the call over to Steve.

很快，您會在幻燈片 8 上看到我們預計將在本季度晚些時候發布我們的 2022 年可持續發展報告，這將是我們這樣做的第五年。 2022 年可持續發展報告將是我們在 GRI 框架下的第一年報告，展示了我們在 IHS 的持續發展和可持續發展報告。有了這個，我會把電話轉給史蒂夫。

Thanks, Sam. Hello, everyone. Having reported our Q4 and full year 2022 results less than 2 months ago and discussed the relevance of Q1 then, I'll be particularly concise today. Turning to Slide 9. As Sam mentioned, we're pleased with our Q1 performance. You will see that our main KPIs have all increased by double-digit percentages in Q1 2023 versus Q1 2022. And we once again delivered double-digit growth in revenue, adjusted EBITDA and RLFCF for the quarter, even after excluding the onetime cash payment received in Q1 '23 from our smallest key customer in Nigeria.

謝謝，山姆。大家好。在不到 2 個月前報告了我們的第四季度和 2022 年全年業績，然後討論了第一季度的相關性，今天我將特別簡潔。轉到幻燈片 9。正如 Sam 所提到的，我們對第一季度的表現感到滿意。您會看到，與 2022 年第一季度相比，我們的主要 KPI 在 2023 年第一季度都實現了兩位數的百分比增長。我們再次實現了收入的兩位數增長，調整後的本季度 EBITDA 和 RLFCF，即使不包括收到的一次性現金付款在 23 年第一季度來自我們在尼日利亞的最小的主要客戶。

As Sam mentioned, we had already flagged this payment on the Q4 call and ultimately, it resulted in $48 million of revenue and adjusted EBITDA and $43 million of RLFCF in Q1. Specifically, in Q1, we delivered 35% growth in revenue, 37% growth in adjusted EBITDA and 72% growth in RLFCF in each case on a reported basis, driven by both organic and inorganic activity across our markets.

正如 Sam 所提到的，我們已經在第四季度的電話會議上標記了這筆付款，最終在第一季度產生了 4800 萬美元的收入和調整後的 EBITDA 以及 4300 萬美元的 RLFCF。具體而言，在報告的基礎上，在第一季度，我們的收入增長了 35%，調整後的 EBITDA 增長了 37%，RLFCF 增長了 72%，這得益於我們市場的有機和無機活動。

Our adjusted EBITDA margin improved to 55.7% and an 80 basis point gain on Q1 '22. I'll talk about these rates as adjusted for the onetime revenue on later slides to give the true performance comparison. As you also see, CapEx grew by 30% in the quarter, largely due to investment in network refurbishment in South Africa, increased CapEx relating to I-Systems fiber deployment in LatAm and in Nigeria ongoing investment in Project Green, offset in part by decreases in other and private CapEx there. Finally, our consolidated net leverage ratio was 3.1x at the end of Q1, an increase versus last year following our 2 acquisitions, but a slight decrease from Q4 '22.

我們調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率在 22 年第一季度提高至 55.7% 和 80 個基點。我將在後面的幻燈片中討論這些費率，以針對一次性收入進行調整，以提供真實的性能比較。正如您還看到的，本季度資本支出增長了 30%，這主要是由於對南非網絡翻新的投資，與拉美 I-Systems 光纖部署相關的資本支出增加以及尼日利亞對 Project Green 的持續投資，部分被減少所抵消在其他和私人資本支出中。最後，我們的合併淨槓桿比率在第一季度末為 3.1 倍，與去年相比在我們進行 2 次收購後有所增加，但與 22 年第四季度相比略有下降。

Turning to our revenue on a consolidated basis. Slide 10 shows the components about of 35.1% reported consolidated revenue growth for the first quarter. Organic revenue growth of 38% was driven primarily by the $48 million onetime revenue in other and by CPI escalations, power-related revenue and lease amendments with FX resets, new colocation, new sites and fiber deployment adding to growth as usual.

在合併的基礎上轉向我們的收入。幻燈片 10 顯示約 35.1% 的組件報告了第一季度的綜合收入增長。有機收入增長 38% 的主要原因是 4800 萬美元的其他一次性收入以及 CPI 上漲、電力相關收入和租賃修訂以及外匯重置、新主機託管、新站點和光纖部署增加了往常的增長。

The level of escalations in FX resets you see reflects our contract protections while the level of power-related revenue continues to reflect the high energy price environment, albeit it was down from last quarter. I would also again note that we now include the power pass-through revenue we received in South Africa within the Power segment and in Q1, accounted for $1.4 million.

您看到的外匯重置升級水平反映了我們的合同保護，而與電力相關的收入水平繼續反映高能源價格環境，儘管它比上一季度有所下降。我還要再次指出，我們現在將我們在南非收到的電力直通收入包括在電力部門和第一季度，佔 140 萬美元。

On the right, you can see the organic growth rates of each of our segments for the quarter with Nigeria delivering 47% organic growth, including that onetime payment. Inorganic growth for Q1 was 8.3%, reflecting the South African acquisition, the SP5 acquisition in Brazil and the fifth stage of the Kuwait acquisition. Inorganic growth will continue to drop in Q2 as we are passing the anniversaries of the SP5 and South African transactions. Finally, FX delivered a negative 11.3% impact in the quarter. So in totality, even when excluding the onetime revenue in the quarter, we delivered strong growth of 24% on a reported basis and 27% on an organic basis.

在右側，您可以看到本季度我們每個細分市場的有機增長率，其中尼日利亞實現了 47% 的有機增長，包括一次性付款。第一季度的無機增長為 8.3%，反映了南非收購、巴西 SP5 收購和科威特收購的第五階段。隨著我們即將度過 SP5 和南非交易的周年紀念日，第二季度無機增長將繼續下降。最後，外彙在本季度產生了 11.3% 的負面影響。因此，總的來說，即使不包括本季度的一次性收入，我們也實現了 24% 的強勁增長（按報告計算）和 27% 的有機增長。

On Slide 11, you can see our consolidated revenue, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margins for Q1 '23. As I discussed on the prior slide, in the first quarter, IHS generated a 35% increase in reported revenue.

在幻燈片 11 上，您可以看到 23 年第一季度的合併收入、調整後的 EBITDA 和調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率。正如我在上一張幻燈片中所討論的，在第一季度，IHS 的報告收入增長了 35%。

Organic revenue growth was even higher at 38%, again demonstrating the continued strong top line growth trends of the businesses led by Nigeria and LatAm in particular. In Q1 '23, adjusted EBITDA of $335 million, increased 37% versus Q1 '22 and adjusted EBITDA margin was 55.7%, up 80 basis points from the prior year.

有機收入增長甚至更高，達到 38%，再次表明以尼日利亞和拉美為首的業務持續強勁的收入增長趨勢。在 23 年第一季度，調整後的 EBITDA 為 3.35 億美元，比 22 年第一季度增長 37%，調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率為 55.7%，比上年增長 80 個基點。

The year-over-year changes in adjusted EBITDA and margin for the first quarter primarily reflect the increase in revenue we've already discussed, including that onetime revenue, partially offset with the year-on-year cost increases in cost of sales, mainly due to higher diesel costs, increased maintenance and repair costs on a larger business as well as increased administrative expenses resulting from employee costs related to the acquisitions.

第一季度調整後的 EBITDA 和利潤率的同比變化主要反映了我們已經討論過的收入增長，包括一次性收入，部分被銷售成本的同比成本增長所抵消，主要由於更高的柴油成本、更大企業的維護和維修成本增加以及與收購相關的員工成本導致的管理費用增加。

Without the $48 million onetime benefit, adjusted EBITDA still grew 17%. Power generation cost of sales increased by $28 million, driven by a $23 million diesel cost increase, primarily due to a 38% increase in diesel price, partially offset by a 7.5% decrease in consumption each in Nigeria. As previously highlighted, we have locked in pricing for a significant portion of our diesel needs through September of 2023. And through Project Green, we continue to prioritize alternative sources of power to reduce our dependency on diesel.

如果沒有 4800 萬美元的一次性收益，調整後的 EBITDA 仍增長 17%。發電銷售成本增加了 2800 萬美元，這是由於柴油成本增加了 2300 萬美元，這主要是由於柴油價格上漲了 38%，部分被尼日利亞各消費量減少 7.5% 所抵消。正如之前強調的那樣，我們已將大部分柴油需求的定價鎖定到 2023 年 9 月。通過 Project Green，我們將繼續優先考慮替代能源，以減少我們對柴油的依賴。

On Slide 12, we'll first review our recurring levered free cash flow. We generated RLFCF of $150 million in Q1 '23, a 72% increase versus Q1 last year due to a combination of factors, including the increased revenue and adjusted EBITDA discussed already, in particular, the onetime payment in Nigeria, which had a net $43 million positive impact on RLFCF.

在幻燈片 12 上，我們將首先回顧我們的經常性槓桿自由現金流。我們在 23 年第一季度產生了 1.5 億美元的 RLFCF，與去年第一季度相比增長了 72%，這是由於多種因素的綜合作用，包括增加的收入和已經討論過的調整後 EBITDA，特別是在尼日利亞的一次性付款，其淨收益為 43 美元萬對 RLFCF 的積極影響。

These factors were offset in part by increases in net interest paid lease payments made mostly due to South African acquisition and withholding tax. Our RLFCF cash conversion rate was 44.6%. Excluding the nonrecurring revenue in the quarter, our RLFCF still grew 23%, despite the higher energy and higher interest rate environment in this quarter versus the prior period. Turning to CapEx. In Q1 '23, CapEx of $153 million, increased 30% year-on-year. The increase was again primarily due to increased CapEx in South Africa in connection with the refurbishment of the portfolio acquired during 2022, also increased CapEx in LatAm primarily for I-Systems and increases in Nigeria in connection with Project Green, on which we spent $34 million in the quarter.

這些因素部分被支付的淨利息租賃付款的增加所抵消，這主要是由於南非的收購和預扣稅。我們的 RLFCF 現金轉換率為 44.6%。排除本季度的非經常性收入，儘管本季度的能源和利率環境與上一時期相比更高，但我們的 RLFCF 仍增長了 23%。轉向資本支出。 23 年第一季度，資本支出為 1.53 億美元，同比增長 30%。增長再次主要是由於南非的資本支出增加與 2022 年收購的投資組合的翻新有關，拉美的資本支出增加主要用於 I-Systems 以及尼日利亞的資本支出增加與綠色項目有關，我們在該項目上花費了 3400 萬美元在本季度。

And turning to the segment review on Slide 13. I'll first walk through our Nigeria business. Nigerian macro remains challenging, as we discussed in late March. U.S. dollars continue to be difficult to source, although remain available with FX reserves in the country having decreased to $35.5 billion at the end of March from $37.1 billion at the end of 2022. And while the price of oil has since decreased quarter-on-quarter, the ICE gas oil price remains elevated versus a year ago, reflecting the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in Q1 of 2022, and it is the most relevant indicator of the diesel pricing we pay.

轉向幻燈片 13 上的細分市場審查。我將首先介紹我們在尼日利亞的業務。正如我們在 3 月下旬討論的那樣，尼日利亞的宏觀經濟仍然充滿挑戰。儘管該國的外匯儲備從 2022 年底的 371 億美元減少到 3 月底的 355 億美元，但仍然難以獲得美元。儘管此後石油價格環比下降本季度，ICE 汽油價格與一年前相比仍處於高位，反映了 2022 年第一季度俄羅斯與烏克蘭衝突的開始，這是我們支付的柴油價格最相關的指標。

Looking at ICE gas oil, it was $819 per tonne in Q1 2023, down from $948 per tonne in Q4 of last year, but still above $786 per tonne in Q1 2022. Moving to real GDP growth. It expanded by 3.5% in Q4 of 2022 with a projected full year 2022 growth of 3.2%, while inflation increased 22% this March versus 15.9% in March '22.

看看 ICE 瓦斯油，2023 年第一季度為每噸 819 美元，低於去年第四季度的每噸 948 美元，但仍高於 2022 年第一季度的每噸 786 美元。轉向實際 GDP 增長。它在 2022 年第四季度增長了 3.5%，預計 2022 年全年增長 3.2%，而今年 3 月的通貨膨脹率增長了 22%，而 2022 年 3 月為 15.9%。

Importantly, on May 29, President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu is expected to be inaugurated. As we said previously, we're cautiously optimistic given the statements made by Mr. Tinubu regarding addressing the economic issues facing the country, and we remain in close contact with our key customers, 2 of which have again recently published healthy top line results in their businesses.

重要的是，5 月 29 日，當選總統 Bola Ahmed Tinubu 預計將就職。正如我們之前所說，鑑於 Tinubu 先生就解決該國面臨的經濟問題發表的聲明，我們持謹慎樂觀態度，並且我們與主要客戶保持密切聯繫，其中 2 家最近再次在他們的業務。

We also continue to work closely with various regulators, our vendors and our local banking partners to continue to best position IHS. All said, we believe the business remains well positioned for continued long-term success and to enjoy the nearer term macroeconomic challenges. To this point, our Nigerian business once again delivered strong results in the first quarter, tracking well on our key metrics. Q1 '23 revenue of $425 million, increased 33% year-on-year on a reported basis and 47% on an organic basis, in each case, also reflecting the onetime revenue discussed.

我們還繼續與各種監管機構、我們的供應商和我們當地的銀行合作夥伴密切合作，以繼續保持 IHS 的最佳地位。總而言之，我們相信該業務仍處於有利地位，可以繼續取得長期成功，並應對近期的宏觀經濟挑戰。到目前為止，我們的尼日利亞業務在第一季度再次取得了強勁的業績，很好地跟踪了我們的關鍵指標。 23 年第一季度的收入為 4.25 億美元，在報告的基礎上同比增長 33%，在有機基礎上增長 47%，在每種情況下，也反映了所討論的一次性收入。

Top line growth was driven by the usual group of power-related revenue escalations, FX resets, lease amendments, new colocations, fiber and new site deployment. The negative FX impact was $45.2 million or 14%.

收入增長是由通常的電力相關收入增長、外匯重置、租賃修訂、新主機託管、光纖和新站點部署推動的。負面外匯影響為 4520 萬美元或 14%。

Our tower count decreased by 2.9% and total tenant count decreased by 0.2%, each versus Q1 '22, largely reflecting the planned decommissioning previously discussed, which does not impact our revenue. Our colocation rate consequently improved to 1.57x, up from 1.52x in Q1 '22. Lease amendments continue to be a strong driver of growth with these increasing by 13% quarter-on-quarter as our customers added additional equipment to our sites, particularly 4G upgrades.

與 22 年第一季度相比，我們的塔樓數量減少了 2.9%，總租戶數量減少了 0.2%，這在很大程度上反映了之前討論的計劃退役，這不會影響我們的收入。因此，我們的託管率從 22 年第一季度的 1.52 倍提高到 1.57 倍。由於我們的客戶向我們的站點添加了額外的設備，尤其是 4G 升級，租賃修訂繼續成為增長的強大驅動力，環比增長 13%。

Q1 '23 segment adjusted EBITDA in Nigeria was $272 million, a 34% increase from a year ago, and segment adjusted EBITDA margin was up 70 basis points to 64%. Let me now briefly summarize the results of our other segments. As our Sub-Saharan African segment now reflects the inclusion of our South African business, towers and tenants increased substantially versus Q1 of '22. Revenue increased by 43%, of which organic revenue grew 16%, inorganic revenue grew 33%, driven by the South African acquisition. And FX was a 6.2% headwind.

23 年第一季度，尼日利亞分部調整後的 EBITDA 為 2.72 億美元，同比增長 34%，分部調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率上升 70 個基點至 64%。現在讓我簡要總結一下我們其他部門的結果。由於我們的撒哈拉以南非洲地區現在反映了我們南非業務的納入，與 22 年第一季度相比，塔樓和租戶大幅增加。收入增長 43%，其中有機收入增長 16%，無機收入增長 33%，受南非收購的推動。外匯是 6.2% 的不利因素。

Segment adjusted EBITDA increased by 39%, driven primarily by the increased revenue, partially offset by increases in power generation costs, maintenance and security costs and administrative expenses. Segment adjusted EBITDA margin decreased to 53.5% from 54.9% in Q1 of last year. We continue to monitor the macro environment in South Africa, particularly the ongoing power load shedding by the national utility. And as previously discussed, we continue to evaluate our managed services opportunity there.

部門調整後的 EBITDA 增長了 39%，這主要是由於收入增加，部分被發電成本、維護和安全成本以及管理費用的增加所抵消。部門調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率從去年第一季度的 54.9% 下降至 53.5%。我們繼續監測南非的宏觀環境，特別是國家公用事業公司正在進行的電力減載。正如之前所討論的，我們繼續在那裡評估我們的託管服務機會。

In our LatAm segment, towers and tenants grew more modestly by 3.4% and 9%, respectively, reflecting the closure of the GTS SP5 acquisition in Q1 last year. However, revenue and segment adjusted EBITDA each increased by over 40% in Q1 '23, largely due to the timing of the closure of the deal last year as well as the I-Systems fiber business. In Brazil, our second lines market was 7,023 towers. Macro conditions were largely stable as GDP growth decelerated, FX rates marginally strengthened, interest rates held steady and inflation decreased. In our LatAm segment, overall, Q1 '23 organic revenue increased 18%, driven by an increase from I-Systems, CPI escalators, new sites and new colocation with inorganic revenue increasing by 27% from the acquisition.

在我們的 LatAm 部分，塔樓和租戶分別增長了 3.4% 和 9%，這反映了去年第一季度 GTS SP5 收購的結束。然而，收入和部門調整後的 EBITDA 在 23 年第一季度分別增長了 40% 以上，這主要是由於去年交易結束的時間以及 I-Systems 光纖業務。在巴西，我們的二線市場有 7,023 座塔。隨著 GDP 增長放緩、匯率小幅走強、利率保持穩定以及通脹下降，宏觀環境基本穩定。在我們的 LatAm 部分，總體而言，23 年第一季度的有機收入增長了 18%，這得益於 I-Systems、CPI 自動扶梯、新站點和新託管的增長，而收購帶來的無機收入增長了 27%。

Segment adjusted EBITDA grew by 41% in the quarter with a segment adjusted EBITDA margin of 68.3%, reflecting the increased revenue, but offset by increase in administrative expenses, including increased staff costs and bad debt allowance. In MENA, towers and tenants each grew by 8% in Q1 '23, and revenue grew by 13% including 11% organic revenue growth.

本季度經部門調整後的 EBITDA 增長了 41%，經部門調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率為 68.3%，反映了收入的增加，但被管理費用的增加所抵消，包括增加的員工成本和壞賬準備。在 MENA，塔樓和租戶在 23 年第一季度分別增長了 8%，收入增長了 13%，其中包括 11% 的有機收入增長。

Segment adjusted EBITDA grew by 1% in the quarter with a segment adjusted EBITDA margin of 37.6%, reflecting the increased revenue, but offset by increase in cost of sales and administrative expense.

本季度經部門調整的 EBITDA 增長 1%，經部門調整的 EBITDA 利潤率為 37.6%，反映出收入增加，但被銷售成本和管理費用的增加所抵消。

On to Slide 14, I'll briefly highlight our KPIs. As of March 31, our tower count was 39,104, up 17.5% from the same period last year driven largely by the acquisitions mentioned and ongoing new sites in LatAm, Nigeria and SSA, albeit down by net 548 towers since the end of 2022.

在幻燈片 14 上，我將簡要強調我們的 KPI。截至 3 月 31 日，我們的塔數為 39,104 座，比去年同期增長 17.5%，這主要是受上述收購以及拉美、尼日利亞和 SSA 正在進行的新站點的推動，儘管自 2022 年底以來塔數減少了 548 座。

As you can see in the chart on the top right, collectively, we built in 200 towers during the first quarter of 2023. But as Sam mentioned, we also rationalized 727 towers occupied by our smallest key customer in Nigeria, where we were not generating revenue. Towers and tenants grew 17% with a co-location rate at 1.49x, flat versus last year, but up slightly from Q4 '22. We continue to point out that lease amendments are a significant factor for us, particularly in our Nigerian segment given the ongoing 4G upgrades by our customers there and the initial, albeit small 5G activity we are seeing.

正如您在右上角的圖表中看到的那樣，我們在 2023 年第一季度總共建造了 200 座塔樓。但正如 Sam 提到的，我們還合理化了尼日利亞最小的主要客戶佔用的 727 座塔樓，我們在那裡沒有發電收入。塔樓和租戶增長了 17%，託管率為 1.49 倍，與去年持平，但比 22 年第四季度略有上升。我們繼續指出，租賃修訂對我們來說是一個重要因素，特別是在我們的尼日利亞部分，因為我們的客戶正在那裡進行 4G 升級，並且我們看到了最初的 5G 活動，儘管規模很小。

While lease amendments increased by almost 16% year-on-year, they are not included in our colocation calculation. We continue to see no reason why we can't get to 2x or greater on our overall portfolio over the long term and our more mature portfolio of towers are at or above that rate.

雖然租賃修訂同比增長近 16%，但它們並未包括在我們的主機託管計算中。從長遠來看，我們仍然認為沒有理由不能在我們的整體投資組合中達到 2 倍或更高，而我們更成熟的塔式投資組合達到或超過該比率。

On Slide 15, we look at our capital structure and related items. At March 31, 2023, we had approximately $4.06 billion of external debt and IFRS 16 lease liabilities. Of the $4.06 billion of debt, $1.94 billion represent our bond financings and other indebtedness includes $370 million that we drew down in 2022 from the $600 million 3-year bullet term loan at the IHS Holding Limited level. Additionally, as discussed on our Q4 earnings call, in January of 2023, we entered into an up to NGN 165 billion 5-year term loan and up to NGN 55 billion 3-year RCF.

在幻燈片 15 上，我們查看了我們的資本結構和相關項目。截至 2023 年 3 月 31 日，我們的外債和 IFRS 16 租賃負債約為 40.6 億美元。在 40.6 億美元的債務中，19.4 億美元代表我們的債券融資，其他債務包括我們在 2022 年從 IHS Holding Limited 級別的 6 億美元 3 年期子彈期貸款中提取的 3.7 億美元。此外，正如我們在第四季度財報電話會議上所討論的那樣，我們在 2023 年 1 月簽訂了高達 1650 億挪威克朗的 5 年期定期貸款和高達 550 億挪威克朗的 3 年期 RCF。

In connection with this, we repaid NGN 114 billion of our 2 Nigerian local currency facilities and as you see in the table, removing significant 2023 amortization. The Nigerian RCF is undrawn. As we previously stated, we're very pleased to have completed the recent Nigeria refinancings, which further derisked the balance sheet and increased our financial flexibility, particularly in light of the tough financing conditions that remain across the globe.

與此相關，我們償還了我們 2 尼日利亞當地貨幣貸款中的 1140 億尼日利亞奈拉，並且如您在表中所見，取消了 2023 年的大量攤銷。尼日利亞 RCF 未提取。正如我們之前所說，我們很高興完成了最近的尼日利亞再融資，這進一步降低了資產負債表的風險並增加了我們的財務靈活性，特別是考慮到全球仍然存在艱難的融資條件。

Cash and cash equivalents were basically flat at $516 million at March 31. In terms of where that cash is held, approximately 10% of the total cash was held in Naira at our Nigeria business, as we've been using excess cash to support Project Green and upstreaming. The majority of the remaining cash was held in U.S. dollars at the group level. Moreover, as we previously highlighted, in January, we upstreamed $15 million from Nigeria as part of the structured transaction that began at the end of last year, and through which we have upstreamed $75 million across December '22 and January '23. And as Sam noted, we have upstreamed an additional $50 -- $50 million in Q2 '23. Consequently, from all these moving elements, at the end of Q1 '23, our consolidated net debt was approximately $3.5 billion and our consolidated net leverage ratio was 3.1x, down slightly from December and at the low end of our net leverage target range of 3x to 4x, further demonstrating our strong balance sheet.

截至 3 月 31 日，現金和現金等價物基本持平，為 5.16 億美元。就現金的持有地點而言，我們尼日利亞業務的現金總額的大約 10% 持有在奈拉，因為我們一直在使用多餘的現金來支持項目綠色上游。剩餘現金的大部分在集團層面以美元持有。此外，正如我們之前強調的那樣，在 1 月份，作為去年年底開始的結構化交易的一部分，我們從尼日利亞上游投資了 1500 萬美元，通過該交易，我們在 22 年 12 月和 23 年 1 月期間從上游投資了 7500 萬美元。正如 Sam 指出的那樣，我們在 23 年第二季度增加了 50 美元——5000 萬美元。因此，從所有這些移動因素來看，在 23 年第一季度末，我們的綜合淨債務約為 35 億美元，我們的綜合淨槓桿率為 3.1 倍，略低於 12 月，處於我們淨槓桿目標範圍的低端3 到 4 倍，進一步證明了我們強大的資產負債表。

On to Slide 16, we're reiterating 2023 guidance that includes revenue in the range of $2.19 billion to $2.22 billion, adjusted EBITDA in the range of $1.2 billion to $1.22 billion, RLFCF in the range of $430 million to $450 million and total CapEx in the range of $610 million to $650 million. As Sam mentioned, while we recognize the modest upside in Q1, including the updated FX rates, given FX rates in emerging markets can be volatile and that we still expect some notable devaluation in Nigeria this year, we think it's important we remain prudent in our operation and not increase our guidance.

在幻燈片 16 上，我們重申了 2023 年的指導方針，其中包括 21.9 億美元至 22.2 億美元的收入、12 億美元至 12.2 億美元的調整後 EBITDA、4.3 億美元至 4.5 億美元的 RLFCF 和總資本支出在 6.1 億美元到 6.5 億美元之間。正如 Sam 所提到的，雖然我們認識到第一季度的溫和上漲，包括更新後的匯率，但考慮到新興市場的匯率可能會波動，而且我們仍然預計今年尼日利亞會出現一些顯著的貶值，我們認為我們在我們的政策中保持謹慎是很重要的操作而不是增加我們的指導。

Guidance also continues to include approximately $25 million of power pass-through revenue in South Africa, of which we recognized $1.4 million in Q1 '23. I do want to again caution that timing of such moves is difficult to predict and could be delayed relative to what we've assumed, although this would have no impact on adjusted EBITDA or RLFCF.

指導還繼續包括南非約 2500 萬美元的電力直通收入，我們在 23 年第一季度確認了其中的 140 萬美元。我確實想再次提醒，此類舉措的時間很難預測，並且可能會相對於我們的假設有所延遲，儘管這不會對調整後的 EBITDA 或 RLFCF 產生影響。

Guidance also continues to not include any revenue from Egypt, although we continue to evaluate opportunities in the market that we believe could align with our financial and strategic objectives. I also want to point out again that we have locked in pricing for a significant portion of our diesel needs in Nigeria through September 2023, which, in turn, provide greater visibility to our costs. For the year, we continue to expect to build approximately 1,200 towers, which is slightly more than the amount we built in 2022. This includes a (inaudible) drop in Nigeria as we pull back on new site builds as we shift more of our focus to Project Green, but also includes the tripling of tower builds in Brazil that will be back-end loaded in 2023.

指導也繼續不包括來自埃及的任何收入，儘管我們繼續評估我們認為可能符合我們的財務和戰略目標的市場機會。我還想再次指出，到 2023 年 9 月，我們已經鎖定了尼日利亞大部分柴油需求的定價，這反過來又使我們的成本更加可見。今年，我們繼續預計將建造大約 1,200 座塔，這比我們在 2022 年建造的數量略多。這包括在尼日利亞（聽不清）下降，因為我們將更多的注意力轉移到新站點建設上到 Project Green，但還包括將在 2023 年後端加載的巴西塔式建築的三倍。

On Slide 17, on the top, you can see revenue by reporting currency for Q1 '23, whereas on the bottom, we provided a breakdown of revenue based on contract split. The right side shows the average annual FX rates assumptions that we used in 2023 guidance and has been updated slightly since last quarter. This equates to $14 million upside for the year versus rates assumed last quarter. This now brings to the end of our formal presentation. We thank you for your time today. And operator, please now open the line for questions.

在幻燈片 17 的頂部，您可以通過報告貨幣查看 23 年第一季度的收入，而在底部，我們提供了基於合同拆分的收入明細。右側顯示了我們在 2023 年指南中使用的年均匯率假設，並且自上個季度以來略有更新。與上一季度假設的利率相比，這相當於今年有 1400 萬美元的上漲空間。現在我們的正式演示結束了。我們感謝您今天的時間。接線員，現在請打開問題熱線。

(Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from the line of Phil Cusick with JPMorgan.

（操作員說明）你的第一個問題來自摩根大通的 Phil Cusick。

A couple of things. Let's just dig a little deeper into Nigeria. There's a new government. You've mentioned a couple of times a devaluation expected. It sounds like you pared down your cash pretty aggressively getting ready for this. But just give us a little bit more on your thinking?

幾件事。讓我們更深入地了解一下尼日利亞。有一個新政府。你已經多次提到預期的貶值。聽起來您為此準備得非常積極地削減了現金。但是，請多談談您的想法？

Phil, it's Steve. So not too much has changed since we last spoke in March. Mr. Tinubu had been elected in February, which is obviously still the case. We've got the inauguration coming on the 29th of May. And the policies that Mr. Tinubu continues to sort of champion are the ones that we've mentioned before around potentially tackling the FX rate and the fact that it continues to be undervalued. Hence, our comments around continuing to believe that there could be a devaluation of the currency during the course of 2023.

菲爾，是史蒂夫。所以自從我們上次在 3 月份發言以來並沒有太大變化。 Tinubu 先生在 2 月當選，顯然情況仍然如此。我們的就職典禮將於 5 月 29 日舉行。 Tinubu 先生繼續支持的政策是我們之前提到的可能解決匯率問題以及匯率繼續被低估這一事實的政策。因此，我們的評論是繼續相信貨幣在 2023 年期間可能會貶值。

The fuel subsidy as well, that continues to be a hot topic in Nigeria, if and when that may get ramped down, phased out and over time, completely eradicated. So there isn't too much more, I think, we can say from our perspective. We're waiting to see the new government come in, in the next week or so and then see if some of those pledges that were made through the campaign start to come to fruition.

燃料補貼也是尼日利亞的一個熱門話題，如果以及何時可能會逐漸減少、逐步取消並隨著時間的推移完全消除。所以沒有太多，我認為，我們可以從我們的角度說。我們正在等待新政府在下週左右上台，然後看看通過競選做出的一些承諾是否開始兌現。

Have the carriers changed their build pace or anything like that or everything is just running at pace?

承運人是否改變了他們的建造速度或類似的東西，或者一切都在按節奏進行？

Not significantly. No. We're continuing to see the likes of MTN in Nigeria, likes of the assets in Nigeria continue to push forward with their rollout. They're pretty focused on 5G at the moment. And by that, I mean, focused on figuring out exactly how best to get that to the population, which won't , as we've said before, won't initially be thousands and thousands, thousands of sites being rolled out, but it will certainly start to add incrementally to the infrastructure needs of the country. Indeed, we've seen that in Q1 a little bit and in Q4, a little bit last year as well. So no significant changes. I would say the carriers are continuing to behave as we would expect them to, in this part of the technology cycle, which is the early onset of the next year technology.

不顯著。不，我們將繼續看到尼日利亞的 MTN 之類的公司，以及尼日利亞的資產之類的公司繼續推進它們的推出。他們目前非常專注於 5G。我的意思是，我的意思是，專注於弄清楚如何最好地將其傳播給大眾，正如我們之前所說，最初不會推出成千上萬的網站，但是它肯定會開始逐漸增加該國的基礎設施需求。事實上，我們在第一季度和第四季度看到了一點，去年也有一點。所以沒有重大變化。我想說的是，在技術週期的這一部分，即明年技術的早期開始，承運人將繼續按照我們的預期行事。

Okay. And then, Sam, if I can, maybe talk about the global tower M&A landscape. What does it look like in terms of potential carrier sales or other partnerships. And your leverage is running at this point at the low end of your target range. Does that make you think any differently about either how you would structure things or what kind of deals you would want to do?

好的。然後，山姆，如果可以的話，也許可以談談全球鐵塔併購格局。就潛在的運營商銷售或其他合作夥伴關係而言，情況如何？此時您的槓桿率處於目標範圍的低端。這是否會讓您對如何構建事物或想要進行什麼樣的交易有任何不同的想法？

In terms of our position, maybe I'll start there. I think we are -- we have intentionally been on the prudent side over the past 12 months, I would say, 12 to 15 months. We have kind of like seen this coming with the rising interest rates, and we realized pressure will be on our sector for sure. So it's kind of like shied away as much as we can. I mean we are -- we still look at various M&A opportunity. We still did South Africa, which we thought was very strategic to us. But for us, it's largely about how strategic is it going to be and how expensive or how cheap can we get a deal done. That's the important part at the moment.

就我們的立場而言，也許我會從那裡開始。我認為我們 - 在過去的 12 個月裡，我會說，12 到 15 個月，我們一直有意保持謹慎。我們有點像看到利率上升會帶來這種情況，我們意識到我們的行業肯定會面臨壓力。所以這有點像我們盡可能地迴避。我的意思是我們 - 我們仍在尋找各種併購機會。我們仍然做了南非，我們認為這對我們來說非常具有戰略意義。但對我們來說，這主要是關於它的戰略性以及我們能以多高或多低的價格完成交易。這是目前重要的部分。

Now having said that, I think there has been a dislocation between public valuations and private valuations. The private expectation -- the private sector expectations kind of like it did not trend down as fast as the public valuations did. So that this location kind of like was still there. But to be honest, Phil, we're beginning to see it softening somehow as some of the sellers who need to sell kind of like are beginning to put their assets out there.

話雖如此，我認為公共估值和私人估值之間存在錯位。私人期望——私營部門的期望有點像它沒有像公共估值那樣快速下降。所以這個位置有點像還在那裡。但老實說，菲爾，我們開始看到它以某種方式軟化，因為一些需要出售類似物品的賣家開始將他們的資產放在那裡。

There are a few processes in LatAm. There are a few processes out there in the Middle East at the moment. They're taking their time. But at some point, I think transactions will have to start happening and they're not going to be at the high multiples that we've seen 18 months ago or 24 months ago. So I hope that answers your question.

LatAm 有一些流程。目前中東有一些進程。他們正在慢慢來。但在某個時候，我認為交易將不得不開始發生，而且它們不會達到我們 18 個月前或 24 個月前看到的高倍數。所以我希望這能回答你的問題。

In the meantime, with your leverage at the low end, would you sit, think about buying stock, how do you think about the need for liquidity versus taking advantage on the share price?

同時，由於您的槓桿處於低端，您會坐下來考慮購買股票，您如何看待流動性需求與利用股價優勢？

Look, I think this year, it's kind of like slightly different because we're in a very good position. Last year, we wanted to make sure we kind of like -- our balance sheet is tight. It's ready for come what may, and I think Steve and the team have done a wonderful job in kind of like pushing maturities further, bringing more debt into the local currency. Even our overall cost of debt remains kind of like somehow subdued. So yes, at the moment, we are sitting at low leverage, which enables us to probably try and do more. But I guess, I don't think the word is out of its funnel. I think the interest rate yet to be seen. How are we going to control inflation? Where does Europe stand? (inaudible) geopolitical tensions with China. So I think we are still in a phase that requires prudence. Now if it did present itself that is cheap enough, it has to be good commercial. It has to be strategic. We can do it. It's as simple as that.

看，我認為今年有點不同，因為我們處於非常有利的位置。去年，我們想確保我們有點喜歡——我們的資產負債表很緊張。它已經為可能發生的事情做好了準備，我認為史蒂夫和他的團隊在某種程度上做了出色的工作，比如將到期期限進一步推高，將更多債務計入當地貨幣。甚至我們的整體債務成本仍然有點低迷。所以是的，目前，我們處於低杠桿狀態，這使我們能夠嘗試做更多的事情。但我想，我不認為這個詞已經超出了它的漏斗。我認為利率還有待觀察。我們將如何控制通貨膨脹？歐洲站在哪裡？ （聽不清）與中國的地緣政治緊張局勢。所以我認為我們仍處於需要謹慎的階段。現在，如果它確實以足夠便宜的價格展示自己，那麼它就必須具有良好的商業價值。它必須具有戰略意義。我們可以做到這一點。就這麼簡單。

Your next question comes from the line of Greg Williams with TD Cowen.

你的下一個問題來自 Greg Williams 與 TD Cowen 的對話。

Just one, just help us with your guidance. I know you reiterated it, and you are just admittedly one quarter in or even just 2 months from the last (inaudible). Even if I look at your underlying performance at these $43 million of onetime benefits, you are trending to beat. Just wondering if there's conservatism here. And how much of that is factoring and maybe the uncertainty of devaluation.

就一個，只需幫助我們提供您的指導即可。我知道您重申了這一點，誠然，您距上次（聽不清）僅四分之一甚至僅 2 個月。即使我看一下你在這些 4300 萬美元的一次性福利方面的基本表現，你也有超越的趨勢。只是想知道這裡是否存在保守主義。其中有多少是保理，也許還有貶值的不確定性。

And then second, just to ask again on devaluation, can you help me with the mechanics of it? I suppose there's a devaluation tomorrow, how quickly are your FX and CPI resets? Is it monthly, quarterly to catch up with that, if you will?

其次，再問一次關於貶值的問題，你能幫我了解一下它的機制嗎？我想明天會貶值，您的外彙和 CPI 重置速度有多快？如果願意的話，是每月一次還是每季度一次？

Greg, so I mean, what you said -- what you outlined in terms of the guidance is exactly how we've tried to portray it and exactly how we're thinking about it, which is, yes, we've had some positive performance in Q1, helped by some positivity around FX, et cetera. So we have tailwinds there.

格雷格，所以我的意思是，你所說的 - 你在指南中概述的正是我們試圖描繪它的方式以及我們正在考慮的方式，也就是說，是的，我們有一些積極的第一季度的表現，得益於圍繞 FX 等的一些積極因素。所以我們在那裡有順風。

But as you said, we're only at Q1. We are taking again a cautious position around potential future currency devaluation, particularly in Nigeria, we've just spoken about. So our view right now is to layer a little bit of caution into the guide and not change it, but we're certainly pleased where we are within those ranges at the upper end, et cetera. So yes, that's exactly the thinking and the fact pattern around maintaining guidance as is for now.

但正如你所說，我們只是在第一季度。我們再次對未來潛在的貨幣貶值持謹慎態度，特別是在我們剛剛談到的尼日利亞。所以我們現在的觀點是在指南中加入一點謹慎而不是改變它，但我們當然很高興我們處於高端的這些範圍內，等等。所以是的，這正是目前圍繞維持指導的想法和事實模式。

And then on your second question around as and when if devaluation happens, and we're specifically referring to Nigeria here, of course. And I'll just guide people to the Slide 19 in our presentation, the earnings presentation, which is up in the website, gives you a pie chart of the frequency of our reset. So from an FX resetting perspective, the vast majority, in fact, 94% of those contracts are resetting on a quarterly basis. So if a devaluation what's happened tomorrow in your example, they would start to reset from the 1st of July being the next calendar quarter commencing. Now they're not all spot.

然後關於你的第二個問題，如果貶值發生，我們在這里特別指的是尼日利亞。我將在我們的演示文稿中引導人們到幻燈片 19，網站上的收益演示文稿為您提供了我們重置頻率的餅圖。因此，從外匯重置的角度來看，絕大多數，實際上 94% 的合同都是按季度重置的。因此，如果在您的示例中明天發生貶值，它們將從 7 月 1 日開始重置，即下一個日曆季度開始。現在他們不全是現貨。

Some are taking the average of FX rates, et cetera. So you see that reset come through the next quarter and the following quarter. So that takes care of the FX side of things. And then from a CPI perspective, majority of CPI escalations are passed annually, in fact, pretty much all of them. And those are often in January being the beginning of the calendar year or on the anniversary of when any particular MLA was signed. So they are scattered a bit across the year, but those CPI resets are annual, whereas the FX resets, Slide 19, most of them are quarterly.

有些人採用外匯匯率的平均值，等等。所以你會看到重置將在下個季度和下個季度進行。這樣就可以解決外匯方面的問題。然後從 CPI 的角度來看，大多數 CPI 上漲都是每年通過的，事實上，幾乎所有的都是。那些通常是在 1 月，即日曆年的開始或任何特定 MLA 簽署的周年紀念日。所以它們在一年中有點分散，但這些 CPI 重置是每年一次，而 FX 重置，幻燈片 19，其中大部分是每季度一次。

Your next question comes from the line of Brett Feldman with Goldman Sachs.

你的下一個問題來自高盛的布雷特費爾德曼。

I guess I'll probably stick initially with the potential devaluation. You sort of alluded to, but obviously, it would be helpful to your Nigerian-based debt balances. It sounds like you've pulled down a lot of cash. So I don't think that, that would be particularly harmful. Is there anything else that we need to think about from a mechanic standpoint? Would there be any gains or charges that you would take in a quarter where there may be a significant devaluation. And then remind us around the history, the conversation you have with your tenants because a significant devaluation can make it more challenging for them to pay their bills, particularly bills that are tied to hard currencies. Anything we need to be contemplating there? And I have a follow-up question on Project Green.

我想我最初可能會堅持潛在的貶值。你有點提到，但顯然，這對你基於尼日利亞的債務餘額有幫助。聽起來你已經拉下了很多現金。所以我不認為那會特別有害。從機制的角度來看，我們還有什麼需要考慮的嗎？在可能出現大幅貶值的季度中，您是否會獲得任何收益或費用？然後提醒我們歷史，你與租戶的談話，因為大幅貶值會使他們支付賬單更具挑戰性，尤其是與硬通貨掛鉤的賬單。有什麼我們需要考慮的嗎？我有一個關於 Project Green 的後續問題。

Yes, sure. I'll start taking that one. So in terms of anything else to be thinking through on potential devaluation, we do see unrealized FX losses in case of devaluation, which is effectively our third-party dollar debt, although in the case of Nigeria that's now 0. So we won't see that. But shareholder loans, which is how we've historically pushed money into the country. So these are internal shareholder loans to be clear. Those are denominated in dollars. And so you can see unrealized FX losses there, but that will pass through the bottom of the income statement.

是的，當然。我會開始服用那個。因此，就潛在貶值要考慮的任何其他事項而言，我們確實看到在貶值的情況下未實現的外匯損失，這實際上是我們的第三方美元債務，儘管在尼日利亞的情況下現在為 0。所以我們不會看到那個。但是股東貸款，這就是我們歷史上將資金推向該國的方式。所以這些是內部股東貸款要清楚。這些都是以美元計價的。所以你可以在那裡看到未實現的外匯損失，但這將通過損益表的底部。

It won't affect any KPIs, but you will see that come through if there is a devaluation coming through. In terms of customer discussions, I think there's a lot of things to keep in mind around the customer discussions. I mean, firstly, our key customers in Nigeria continues to be very healthy. The MTN and Airtel continue to grow their businesses really significantly, MTN about 19%, Airtel about similar 20% revenue growth in the last quarter results they posted, and they're sitting at 52%, 53% margin as well.

它不會影響任何 KPI，但如果出現貶值，你會看到它會出現。在客戶討論方面，我認為圍繞客戶討論有很多事情要記住。我的意思是，首先，我們在尼日利亞的主要客戶仍然非常健康。 MTN 和 Airtel 的業務繼續實現顯著增長，MTN 約為 19%，Airtel 在他們發布的上一季度業績中收入增長率約為 20%，利潤率為 52%，利潤率也為 53%。

So those businesses continue to be very profitable themselves such that they can withstand these types of devaluations that pass through. I would also just point out that in some of those cases, we have been taking the diesel cost, the energy cost for those customers. So when we talk to customers about FX, we're also talking to them about energy prices. So it's a totality of conversations. Some they win, some we win, et cetera. So we're not expecting any particular issue with those key customers in the market. And that's been the case historically as well in terms of when devaluations have occurred.

因此，這些企業本身仍然非常有利可圖，因此它們可以承受這些類型的貶值。我還要指出，在某些情況下，我們一直在計算柴油成本，這些客戶的能源成本。因此，當我們與客戶談論外匯時，我們也在與他們談論能源價格。所以這是對話的總和。有些是他們贏了，有些是我們贏了，等等。因此，我們預計市場上的這些主要客戶不會出現任何特殊問題。就貶值發生的時間而言，歷史上也是如此。

Got it. And then just on Project Green, obviously, it's still early days, but you seem like you're making good progress against that initiative. Any early anecdotal color you can give to us in terms of the extent to which it's yielding the benefits you had anticipated? Or is it just too soon?

知道了。然後就 Project Green 而言，顯然，現在還處於早期階段，但你似乎在反對該倡議方面取得了良好進展。關於它在多大程度上產生了您預期的好處，您可以給我們提供任何早期的軼事色彩嗎？還是太快了？

Yes, it's a little too soon. So we'll look to get to that later in the year. But I would say it's very much on track. We are in that phase where certainly Q3, Q4, Q1 and a little bit coming in Q2 is really the time frame to get CapEx out the door to get all those solutions, grid connectivity, batteries, solar panels, et cetera, get all that on to site, spent on site and starting to be connected and working. So we're a little bit early, but certainly, we're on track. We're pleased with what we're seeing internally and we'll update everyone in due course.

是的，有點太早了。所以我們希望在今年晚些時候實現這一目標。但我要說的是，一切都在正軌上。我們正處於那個階段，第三季度、第四季度、第一季度和第二季度的一點點確實是讓資本支出走出大門以獲得所有這些解決方案、電網連接、電池、太陽能電池板等的時間框架，得到所有這些在現場，在現場度過並開始連接和工作。所以我們有點早，但可以肯定的是，我們在正軌上。我們對我們在內部看到的情況感到滿意，我們會在適當的時候更新每個人。

(Operator Instructions) Your next question comes from the line of Michael Rollins with Citi.

（操作員說明）你的下一個問題來自花旗的邁克爾羅林斯。

A couple of follow-ups. So just looking at Slide 10. If you add together the CPI and the FX resets, the FX headwind to the right is a little larger than the combination of those 2 items, the escalations in the resets. How should investors be thinking about this relationship on a go-forward basis? Is it net positive, net neutral, net negative? And is that the right way to think about that there's a relationship between all 3 of these components of the revenue bridge.

一些後續行動。所以只看幻燈片 10。如果將 CPI 和 FX 重置加在一起，右側的 FX 逆風略大於這兩項的組合，即重置中的升級。投資者應該如何在未來的基礎上考慮這種關係？它是淨正數、淨中性數還是淨負數？這是考慮收入橋樑的所有 3 個組成部分之間存在關係的正確方法嗎？

And then just secondly, just taking a step back on some of the capital allocation strategies and some of the points that you outlined earlier, are there any new ideas or updates on how the Board and the management team would like to translate the operating performance into creating shareholder value?

其次，就一些資本配置策略和您之前概述的一些要點退後一步，董事會和管理團隊希望如何將經營業績轉化為創造股東價值？

Sure. I'll take the first one. I'm happy to start with second one and Sam can jump in as well. So on the first one, yes, you're absolutely right in the way of thinking about it, that's how I like to talk to people about the building blocks in this growth bridge, CPI escalations plus FX resets versus the FX impact at the end of the bar. There is, of course, timing nuances. These are very binary quarterly snapshots of our growth. And so in the case of this particular quarter, when you look at FX reset starting at 3.4%, yes, we had CPI escalated at 7.3%, but against FX negative of 11.3%.

當然。我要第一個。我很高興從第二個開始，Sam 也可以加入。所以關於第一個，是的，你的思考方式是絕對正確的，這就是我喜歡與人們談論這個增長橋樑的基石的方式，CPI 上升加上外匯重置與最後的外匯影響酒吧的。當然，時間上存在細微差別。這些是我們增長的非常二進制的季度快照。因此，在這個特定季度的情況下，當您看到從 3.4% 開始的外匯重置時，是的，我們的 CPI 上漲了 7.3%，但外匯負利率為 11.3%。

I give you one example, which is the majority of what's happening there this quarter. In Nigeria, average billing was around NGN 444 to the dollar because some of it is based on spot and some of it is based on average of the preceding quarter, when the average rate we consolidated the books out was NGN 461.

我舉一個例子，這是本季度那裡發生的大部分事情。在尼日利亞，平均賬單約為 444 NGN 兌 1 美元，因為其中一些是基於現貨，一些是基於上一季度的平均值，當時我們合併帳簿的平均匯率是 NGN 461。

So you'll see that true-up, that balance come through in Q2. So that's why I say sometimes there's a little bit of timing within these growth blocks, but how are you thinking about it, Mike, is absolutely the right way to think about it. And it should be net positive overall. That's what we've seen historically. It's not hugely net positive, but it's certainly a positive when you combine CPI and FX resets versus underlying currency performance.

所以你會看到這種調整，這種平衡會在第二季度實現。所以這就是為什麼我說有時在這些增長塊中有一點時間，但你是怎麼想的，邁克，絕對是正確的思考方式。總體上應該是淨積極的。這就是我們在歷史上看到的。這並不是非常積極的淨值，但當您將 CPI 和 FX 重置與基礎貨幣表現相結合時，它肯定是積極的。

On the capital allocation point, clearly, it's the Board's mandate continue to assessing these, along with management. So we keep looking at all the different options between investing in the business, inorganic activity, things like buybacks or other forms of capital allocation. So that continues to be a hot topic of agenda for us, and we'll continue to look at that through the course of, I suspect, this year. Sam, do you want to jump in?

顯然，在資本分配點上，董事會的任務是繼續與管理層一起評估這些。因此，我們一直在研究投資業務、無機活動、回購或其他形式的資本配置之間的所有不同選擇。因此，這仍然是我們議程的熱門話題，我懷疑，我們將在今年的整個過程中繼續關注它。山姆，你想跳進去嗎？

Yes. Michael, Look, Mike, it's very important to note that in terms of share price performance or where things stand, there is definitely, again, a disconnect. But let's not forget, we listed barely 18 months ago -- we listed at the beginning of a downturn in the global economic cycle. Now of course, this would reverse at some point in time. The most important part for us is, again, to kind of like be there in the public eye quarter after quarter, showing what we can do, what our markets can do, how can they grow, how can we tackle problems and at the same time, keep growing, keep expanding our margin quarter after quarter.

是的。邁克爾，你看，邁克，非常重要的是要注意，就股價表現或情況而言，肯定再次存在脫節。但別忘了，我們在 18 個月前剛剛上市——我們在全球經濟周期低迷的初期上市。現在當然，這會在某個時間點逆轉。對我們來說，最重要的部分是，再一次，就像一個季度又一個季度地出現在公眾視線中，展示我們能做什麼，我們的市場能做什麼，它們如何增長，我們如何解決問題，同時時間，不斷增長，不斷擴大我們的利潤率。

The strategy that we have maintained or created to basically help us get ourselves there is to diversify. We need to bring down or control our energy costs among our other things. We need to keep growing organically in double-digit, et cetera, et cetera. So the most important thing is to keep doing these things quarter after quarter.

我們一直保持或創建的基本上可以幫助我們實現目標的戰略是多樣化。除了其他事情，我們還需要降低或控制能源成本。我們需要保持兩位數的有機增長，等等。所以最重要的是每個季度都堅持做這些事情。

And of course, the second part of the strategy is communications. That's why we kind of like have Colby now on board to basically be able to kind of get ourselves out there in front of investors on a quarterly basis -- on a monthly basis, sometimes even on a weekly basis, just keep kind of like reiterating the message time after time. I mean this is the growth force way. This is the best way. This is the right way that will get us there over time to increase the size of our float.

當然，該戰略的第二部分是溝通。這就是為什麼我們有點像現在讓科爾比加入，基本上能夠每季度在投資者面前展示自己——每月，有時甚至每週，就像重申一樣一次又一次的消息。我的意思是這是增長力量的方式。這是最好的方法。隨著時間的推移，這是使我們到達那里以增加浮動大小的正確方法。

Remember, Michael, the float remains an inhibitor. The size of the float remains an inhibitor to kind of like realizing proper valuation potential. Now having said all of this, the company and its Board, curiosity, we evaluate strategic option. I mean what else can be done? Can we do this? Can we do that? Can we run a secondary offering? Can we do this? Can we do that? Is buyback the right thing to do? I mean, we constantly evaluate things, and at the appropriate time if we feel that some of those strategic options are worth stabling, then we will put it forward.

記住，邁克爾，浮動仍然是一個抑制因素。流通股的規模仍然是實現適當估值潛力的一個障礙。現在說了所有這一切，公司及其董事會出於好奇，我們評估了戰略選擇。我的意思是還能做什麼？我們能做到嗎？我們能做到嗎？我們可以進行二次發行嗎？我們能做到嗎？我們能做到嗎？回購是正確的做法嗎？我的意思是，我們不斷地評估事物，在適當的時候，如果我們覺得其中一些戰略選擇值得穩定，那麼我們就會提出來。

Do you have any interest to attract minority capital into certain investments that you have as a way to maybe increase capital to recycle at 4 acquisitions while also trying to manage the valuation at which the capital comes in?

您是否有興趣將少數資本吸引到您擁有的某些投資中，以此來增加資本以在 4 次收購中回收，同時還試圖管理資本進入時的估值？

Look, all options are on the table, but no options are on the table at the same time. And we continue to evaluate the leasing, but it is -- it will happen as and when it is appropriate. At the time -- we look at these things, but at the time, we have no definitive plan to move with any of those options.

看，所有選項都擺在桌面上，但沒有任何選項同時擺在桌面上。我們繼續評估租賃，但它會在適當的時候發生。當時——我們考慮了這些事情，但當時，我們還沒有明確的計劃來採用這些選項中的任何一個。

Your next question comes from the line of Bora Lee with RBC.

你的下一個問題來自 Bora Lee with RBC 的專欄。

It's Bora Lee on for Jon Atkin. So 2 questions from my side. Can you remind us how you're viewing the opportunities for rural build-out and fiber deployment in Nigeria and how meaningful that could be over time?

喬恩·阿特金 (Jon Atkin) 的寶來李 (Bora Lee)。所以我這邊有 2 個問題。您能否提醒我們您如何看待尼日利亞農村建設和光纖部署的機會，以及隨著時間的推移這會有多重要？

And then secondly, touching on Latin America, what are you seeing in terms of carrier activity there? I'm just curious if they're still going through that digestion period post Oi and when you think that might inflect?

其次，關於拉丁美洲，您對那裡的運營商活動有何看法？我只是好奇他們是否仍在經歷 Oi 後的消化期，你認為這可能會在什麼時候發生變化？

Bora, so in terms of Nigeria, so rural activity is still around. We are not engaged in huge volumes of rural activity, but we're certainly continuing to do what we can and what is needed. So I would say smaller part of the overall picture in Nigeria in 2023. And that will just really depend on carrier activity as well as our own desires. As we've mentioned a few times, we're outsized diverting, if you like, capital into Project Green, which we think is a huge beneficial project for the country as well as for IHS.

博拉，就尼日利亞而言，農村活動仍然存在。我們沒有參與大量的農村活動，但我們肯定會繼續做我們能做的和需要做的事情。所以我想說的是 2023 年尼日利亞整體情況的一小部分。這實際上取決於承運人的活動以及我們自己的願望。正如我們多次提到的那樣，如果你願意的話，我們將大量資金轉移到 Project Green 中，我們認為這對國家和 IHS 都是一個巨大的有益項目。

So that's really driving that. Fiber opportunity continues for sure in Nigeria. We're continuing to roll out what we call the kind of last master, the fiber piece where we connect our own towers, which is effectively extending our infrastructure services to the entity, the customers that are already on the towers. So that does continue.

所以這真的推動了這一點。纖維的機會在尼日利亞肯定會繼續存在。我們將繼續推出我們所說的那種最後的主人，我們連接我們自己的塔的光纖部分，這有效地將我們的基礎設施服務擴展到實體，即已經在塔上的客戶。所以這確實會繼續。

But just to give you an idea, I mean, fiber across the entire group represents something like 3.5% of our revenue. So that is Nigeria and I-Systems, our Brazilian business combined. So it still remains a reasonably small part of our business. I would say stemming back from numbers strategically, we do feel like there is opportunity for the right part of fiber within IHS over the short, medium and long term.

但只是為了給你一個想法，我的意思是，整個集團的光纖約占我們收入的 3.5%。這就是尼日利亞和 I-Systems，我們的巴西業務合併。所以它仍然是我們業務中相當小的一部分。我想說，從戰略上的數字來看，我們確實覺得在短期、中期和長期內，IHS 中有合適的纖維部分的機會。

We do think fiber connectivity is the key to successful backhaul, particularly on 5G, but even on 4G. So that is certainly part of our thinking over the longer term. And then in LatAm, carrier activity, I would say starting to free up. So you're absolutely right. In terms of the carriers being distracted with Oi over the last 18, 24 months and the carve-up of that, I would say starting to free up a little bit. I think you're going to see our activity ramping up through the course of 2023, particularly on the new build side. We've started off with a reasonably modest number of towers built in the quarter 1, but I can tell you it's already accelerated in Q2. And so we expect to see that continue to ramp through the course of the year.

我們確實認為光纖連接是回程成功的關鍵，尤其是在 5G 上，但在 4G 上也是如此。所以這肯定是我們長期考慮的一部分。然後在拉丁美洲，運營商活動，我會說開始釋放。所以你是絕對正確的。就運營商在過去 18 個月、24 個月內因 Oi 而分心以及對此的瓜分而言，我想說開始釋放一點點。我想你會看到我們的活動在 2023 年期間不斷增加，特別是在新的建設方面。我們在第 1 季度建造了相當數量的塔樓，但我可以告訴你它在第 2 季度已經加速。因此，我們希望看到這一年繼續增加。

Your final question comes from the line of Stella Cridge with Barclays.

你的最後一個問題來自 Stella Cridge with Barclays。

If I could just follow-up and ask what was the rate at which you [up feed] the FX in Q2 from Nigeria and that be really helpful. And I also wanted to ask on South Africa. So I know on the last call, you had commented that the mobile approaches have to take some decisions about how they want to address the energy crisis and I just wondered, since that last call, do you have any -- more of a sense of what IHS' role might look like in terms of providing those solutions? I know you said earlier, you know there is a lots of questions about valuation, et cetera, but in terms of that sort of rollout, it would be great to hear if there's any updates there.

如果我可以跟進並詢問您在第二季度從尼日利亞 [up feed] 外彙的速度是多少，那真的很有幫助。我還想問問有關南非的問題。所以我知道在上次電話會議上，你曾評論說移動方法必須就他們希望如何解決能源危機做出一些決定，我只是想知道，自上次電話會議以來，你是否有任何 - 更多的感覺IHS 在提供這些解決方案方面的作用可能是什麼樣的？我知道你之前說過，你知道有很多關於估值的問題，等等，但就那種推出而言，很高興聽到那裡是否有任何更新。

I'll take the second. Steven can take the first one. Let me start with the second one. Look, I think no one disagrees with the fact that IHS is one of the most experienced Tower Cos who can run power solutions in the whole world at the moment. I mean, our experience in Nigeria for the past 24 or 25 years, basically, we've done that in a country with at the moment, 225 million people where 95% or more of the sites don't even have a grid connection. So the experience is there.

我要第二個。史蒂文可以拿第一個。讓我從第二個開始。看，我認為沒有人不同意 IHS 是目前在全世界可以運行電力解決方案的最有經驗的鐵塔公司之一。我的意思是，我們在過去 24 或 25 年在尼日利亞的經驗，基本上，我們已經在一個目前有 2.25 億人的國家做到了，其中 95% 或更多的站點甚至沒有電網連接。所以經驗就在那裡。

Now at the moment, we are listed in the New York Stock Exchange. We have an equity story to tell, and we are a Tower Co. Our expertise, however, in South Africa is critical because we want to use it to help our clients. We want to use it to help our clients, mainly our partners kind of like overcome this or deal that is [sadly] happening in the country, and it's going to be used in whatever form, whether we actually do the service, whether we consult, whether we become technical partners, whether we provide services, it is basically at the decision of our partners.

現在，我們在紐約證券交易所上市。我們有一個股票故事要講，而且我們是一家鐵塔公司。然而，我們在南非的專業知識至關重要，因為我們希望利用它來幫助我們的客戶。我們想用它來幫助我們的客戶，主要是我們的合作夥伴，有點像克服這個問題或正在該國[不幸]發生的交易，它將以任何形式使用，無論我們是否實際提供服務，我們是否諮詢，我們是否成為技術合作夥伴，我們是否提供服務，基本上由我們的合作夥伴決定。

And then just on the second one, pretty short, sharp answer. We haven't disclosed the rate of [$50 million]. Historically, we disclose our rates at the end of each year. So we haven't done it so far.

然後就在第二個問題上，非常簡短、尖銳的回答。我們還沒有透露 [5000 萬美元] 的利率。從歷史上看，我們在每年年底披露我們的費率。所以我們到目前為止還沒有這樣做。

Okay. Okay. And in terms of Q1 or Q2, was there some funds upstreamed from other countries, ex-Nigeria as well?

好的。好的。就第一季度或第二季度而言，是否有一些資金來自其他國家（尼日利亞除外）的上游資金？

Yes, they were. We haven't actually disclosed the details, but yes, there were upstreams from other countries as well.

是的，他們是。我們實際上還沒有透露細節，但是是的，也有來自其他國家的上游。

That brings us to the end of the IHS Holding Limited First Quarter 2023 Earnings Results Call. Should you have any questions, please contact the Investor Relations team via the e-mail address, investorrelations@ihstowers.com. The management team, thank you for your participation today and wish you a good day. You may now disconnect.

這使我們結束了 IHS 控股有限公司 2023 年第一季度收益結果電話會議。如有任何疑問，請通過電子郵件地址 investorrelations@ihstowers.com 聯繫投資者關係團隊。管理團隊，感謝您今天的參與，祝您有個愉快的一天。您現在可以斷開連接。