Airtel Africa quarterly profit more than doubles in first public report

Airtel Africa Plc reported a quarterly pretax profit on Friday that more than doubled, as the telecom company signed up more customers for its mobile and data services.

The company's pretax profit for the first quarter rose to $167.4 million from $80.2 million a year ago, boosted by a 9.3% rise in its customer base.

Airtel Africa, a unit of India's Bharti Airtel Ltd , debuted on the London Stock Exchange last month.