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Helios Towers Plc

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FY2018 Annual Report · Helios Towers Plc
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Annual  
Report

2018

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Driving the 
growth of 
mobile in 
Africa

 
 
 
 
 
Contents

Strategy in action

New markets: 
Helios Towers  
enters South Africa 

Organic growth:  
Built 1,800km 
communications 
backbone in DRC

Operational 
excellence: 
The digitalisation 
dividend

pg.22

pg.24

pg.26

Overview
01  Who we are
02  Highlights
04  Investment case
06  At a glance
08  What we do

Strategic Report
10  Chief Executive Officer’s statement
12  Chief Executive Officer’s Q&A
14  Chief Financial Officer’s statement
16  Business model
18  Market overview
22  Strategy in action
28  Sustainability
34  Operating review
36  Detailed financial review
41  Risk management
42   Risks related to the Group and our        

business

Governance Report
44  Board of Directors
48  Executive team
50  Board committees
52  Glossary
54  Directors’ report
55  Directors’ responsibilities statement

Financial Statements
56  Independent auditor’s report
58   Consolidated Statement of  

profit or loss

59   Consolidated Statement of other 

comprehensive income

60   Company Statement of profit or loss 
and other comprehensive income
 Consolidated Statement  
of financial position
62   Company Statement of 

61 

financial position

63   Consolidated Statement  
of changes in equity

64   Company Statement of changes 

in equity

65   Consolidated Statement  

of cash flows

66  Company Statement of cash flows
67  Notes to the Financial Statements
94  Appendix 1
95  Officers and professional advisors

Interactive online version available at
www.heliostowers.com

Who we are

Creating a 
platform for 
sustainable 
growth

Helios Towers (“HT”) is a leading 
independent telecoms tower 
company in Africa.

With a network of 6,745 towers  
we are market leaders in Tanzania, 
Democratic Republic of Congo 
(“DRC”) and Congo Brazzaville,  
with further operations in Ghana. 
We also recently announced market 
entry into South Africa.

We build, acquire, own and operate 
telecoms infrastructure, hosting 
multiple mobile network operators 
(“MNOs”) on shared tower assets. 

Our sharing model, and dedicated 
focus on infrastructure, enables 
mobile services to be delivered at  
a lower cost and higher quality of 
service than the traditional single 
owner-occupier model.

Africa’s under-penetrated markets 
are some of the fastest growing in 
the world. They are driven by young 
and urbanising populations, high  
GDP growth, and minimal fixed  
line availability. 

In our markets, mobile subscriptions 
are forecast to grow by 48 million,  
or 6% annually, to 2023.(1)

As an established market leader,  
with exceptional service focus  
and expansion experience, Helios 
Towers is well positioned to play a 
pivotal role in the growth of African 
mobile telecommunication in the 
years ahead.

(1)  GSMA intelligence, Hardiman Report 2018; HT markets excl. 

South Africa.

Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018 01

Financial StatementsGovernance ReportStrategic ReportOverviewWe are pleased to have delivered 
another strong set of financial 
results in 2018, including 3% 
revenue growth and 22% Adjusted 
EBITDA growth. 

In addition, sites increased 3% to 
6,745 and colocations increased 5% 
to 6,804, resulting in an improved 
tenancy ratio of 2.01x. 

The Group is well positioned for 
continued growth, with market-
leading positions in some of the 
most attractive and fastest-growing 
telecom markets in Africa. 

Kash Pandya | Chief Executive Officer

Highlights

Financial highlights

Revenue (US$m)

2018

2017

356.0

345.0

+3%

Adjusted EBITDA(1) (US$m)

2018

2017

177.6

146.0

+22%

Adjusted EBITDA margin(1) (%)

2018

2017

+8

percentage points

50%

42%

Operating profit/(loss) (US$m)

2018

2017

3.3

(24.0)

+$27m

Operational highlights

Total sites(1)

2018

2017

Total colocations(1)

2018

2017

Tenancy ratio(1)

2018

2017

6,745

6,519

+3%

6,804

6,468

+5%

2.01x

1.99x

+0.02x

(1)  Please refer to pages 52–53

02 Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018

OverviewHelios Towers | Annual Report 2018 03
Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018 03

Financial StatementsGovernance ReportStrategic ReportOverviewInvestment case

11 Market-
leading  
positions

• Market-leading positions in three out of five 

African markets.

• Early market entry allowing for ownership  
of attractive sites in prime urban areas.
• Skills in reliable power management and 

tower planning/deployment.

2 Africa’s favourable 
macro environment

•  Our five markets are projected to 
grow by 37 million people, to 266 
million by 2023. That’s a 3% annual 
increase, compared to 0% annual 
growth across the G7. 

•  Increasingly urbanised with 26 

million people expected to move 
into cities in our markets by 2023, 
earning more and consuming more 
mobile services. 

•  In our markets, approximately 
two-thirds of the population is 
under 30. This is the demographic 
that consumes the most data, and 
creates further opportunity for our 
customers.

Population(1) (millions)

Strong GDP growth(2) (%)

+3% CAGR

1,195

1,023

+0% CAGR

779

761

+3% CAGR

266

229

HT Markets

Sub-Saharan
Africa

G7

Population 2023E

%

1
.
5

%
3
3

.

%
6
.
1

G7

HT Markets
(revenue 
weighted)

Sub-Saharan
Africa

(1)  Source: United Nations 2018; 2017–2023
(2) Source: IMF 2018; 2017–2023

3 High mobile telecoms 
infrastructure growth

•  Mobile penetration in our markets is 
significantly lower than western 
economies.

•  In our markets, mobile subscriptions 
are forecast to grow by 48 million, 
or 6% annually, to 2023.(4) 

•  Fixed-line availability is extremely 

low in most of our markets.

Mobile penetration(3) (%)

Mobile subscription growth(4)  

%
5
8

%
8

%
6

%
1
4

%
5
4

%
4

%
3

HT Markets

Sub-Saharan
Africa

G7

Tanzania DRC

Ghana

Congo B

(3) Source: GSMA 2018; HT markets excl. South Africa
(4) Source: GSMA, Hardiman Report 2018: 2017–2023; HT markets excl. South Africa

04 Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018

Overview4

Well positioned for  
long-term growth

Existing markets
•  Significant adjusted EBITDA growth 
since 2015 expected to continue 
through c.12,200 new PoS required 
by 2023.

New markets
•  Market opportunity, strong balance 
sheet, management team and 
customer relationships to support 
market expansion.

New technologies
•  Opportunity to add adjacent new 
technologies to increase value to  
our customers.

EBITDA and EBITDA growth (US$m)

What we look for:
–  Emerging market

2
3

8
7
1

–  Population of >10m

1
4

6
4
1

–  3+ operators

Data centres

1
5

5
0
1

4
5

–  Stable and/or pegged currencies

Fibre backhaul

– 

Infrastructure gap

–  High subscriber growth

–  Low mobile penetration

Small cells

2015 Growth 2016 Growth 2017 Growth 2018

–  Enhanced Group returns

5

Embedding  
business excellence

•  Continuously improving operational 

leverage and performance. 
•  Unrivalled customer service.
•  Supply chain optimisation driving 
efficiencies across the business. 
•  Realised capex savings through  
a reduction in strategic suppliers.

Localised workforce

Lean Six Sigma training 

96%

in operating companies are  
local employees

35%

of employees trained  
by 2018

Weekly improvement  
in power service delivery

56%

compared to 2017

6

Robust 
business 
model

•  Contracted protection against 
power and price inflation.

•  Stable and visible cash flows with  

diversified customer base.

•  Strong balance sheet to support 

investments.

•  Funding/financing options 

provide flexibility to support  
long-term growth initiatives.

Contracted revenues 

$3.1B

% EBITDA in USD/EUR pegged 

65%

Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018 05

Financial StatementsGovernance ReportStrategic ReportOverviewAt a glance

We are a leading 
independent telecoms 
tower company in Africa, 
and are market leaders  
in Tanzania, DRC and  
Congo Brazzaville, with 
further operations in  
Ghana. We also recently  
announced market  
entry into South Africa.

Sites

6,745

Tenancies

13,549

Tenancy ratio

2.01x

Our history

Growth in sites

Our assets

2018

Tenancy ratio

Sites

Tenants

Tanzania

2.12x

3,701

7,848

DRC

1.97x

1,773

3,492

Ghana

1.89x

891

1,680

Congo B

1.39x

380

529

South Africa

From January 2019

Ghana

Congo B

Tanzania

DRC

South Africa

6,477

6,519

6,745

5,424

4,656

8 acquisitions  
in 9 years

2,517

2,710

2,974

831

>4,900 acquired towers

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

>1,800 BTS towers

06 Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018

OverviewOur customers 

Our core business is to provide mobile network 
operators (“MNOs”) with tower site space, power and 
related services for their active network equipment. 
As our markets have little or no fixed line voice 
or data infrastructure, the services we provide  
are essential for the development of communities.

We promote the sharing of infrastructure through 
colocating multiple MNOs on each tower site. This 
consolidation of assets not only delivers maximum 
cost benefits to our customers but also reduces 
the environmental impact for the local populations 
we serve. In addition, we construct new assets 
including “build-to-suit” (“BTS”) towers, and 
localised small cell and in-building solutions.  
These are located in high-potential areas where  
our customers are looking to expand, due to  
the continued growth of mobile voice and  
data communications across our markets.

Contracted revenues

$3.1B
8.1 years

Average remaining contract life

Contracted revenue by customers

2%

81%

17%

Africa's Big 5 MNOs 
Africa's high-growth challengers 
Other operators 

Africa’s Big 5 MNOs

$2.5B

• Airtel
• Vodacom

• Tigo
• Orange

• MTN

Africa’s high-growth challengers

$0.5B

• Viettel

• Africell 

Other operators

$0.1B

• Smile
• Simbanet

• Orioncom
• TTCL

• Zantel
• and 24 others

Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018 07

Financial StatementsGovernance ReportStrategic ReportOverview 
 
At a glance

Continued

What we do

Our principal business lies in building, acquiring 
and operating telecommunications towers that 
are capable of accommodating and powering 
the needs of multiple tenants.

These tenants are typically large 
MNOs and other telecommunications 
providers who in turn provide wireless 
voice and data services, primarily to 
end-consumers and businesses.

We also offer comprehensive tower-
related operational services, including 
site selection, site preparation, 
maintenance, security and power 
management. We provide space on 
our tower sites under a combination 
of master lease agreements (“MLAs”), 
which provide the commercial 
terms that govern the provision 
of tower space, and individual site 
agreements (“ISAs”), which act as 
an appendix to the relevant MLA 
and include site-specific information. 
We also enter into ground lease 
agreements with property owners 
to host our sites on their land.

Acquiring and building towers
Diagram 1 (top, next page) highlights 
how we have accumulated our 
assets through a mix of acquisitions 
and organic build-to-suit sites. We 
construct BTS sites only upon receipt 
of an anchor order from an MNO.

Our tower site portfolio consists mainly 
of four-legged, heavy duty ground-
based towers, typically ranging in 
height from 35 to 70 metres. Subject 
to environmental permits and impact 
assessments, we may also be able to 
build taller towers when circumstances 
require. These include towers in 
valley locations, or those that are 
required to deliver a greater range 
of transmission, such as our new 
communications backbone in DRC.

Anchor tenant
In diagram 2 (centre, next page), 
the equipment on the tower 
and the outdoor cabinet are 
owned and maintained by the 
anchor tenant, which is the initial 
customer to occupy each tower.

HT owns and maintains the passive 
infrastructure. This includes the 
tower’s diesel generator, battery 
backup system, site monitoring 
system and, if applicable, hybrid 
and solar technology.

Standard colocation tenants
In diagram 3 (centre, next page), a new 
“colocation” tenant shares the passive 
infrastructure (which we provide) with 
the anchor tenant. Colocations sit at 
the heart of our business model as they 
allow us to grow revenue and improve 
operating margins without significant 
additional capital expenditure.

Amendment colocation tenants
Diagram 4 (bottom, next page) 
demonstrates an amendment 
colocation tenant. This is an existing 
customer (anchor tenant or standard 
colocation tenant) adding or modifying 
equipment, taking up additional 
vertical space, wind load capacity and/
or power consumption, which leads 
to additional revenue billing under the 
menu pricing of an existing MLA. 

The Group calculates amendment 
colocations using the additional 
revenue generated by the amendment 
on a weighted basis as compared 
to the market average rate for a 
standard tenancy in the month 
the amendment is added.

08 Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018

Overview1
Acquire and  
build towers

2
Initial 
customer:
anchor 
tenant

3
Additional 
customers:
standard 
colocation
tenant

4
Additional 
equipment:
amendment
colocation
tenant

Grow tower portfolio 
through acquisitions  
or organically through  
build-to-suit sites

MNO places their active 
equipment on the HT tower 
and is the initial customer  
to occupy the tower 

Additional tenant adds their 
active equipment on the  
HT tower and shares the 
tower space with the  
anchor tenant

Existing customer on  
a site (anchor tenant  
or standard colocation 
tenant) modifies or adds 
additional equipment on 
the tower

Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018 09

Financial StatementsGovernance ReportStrategic ReportOverviewChief Executive Officer’s statement

Our growth  
story continues 

2018 has been a year of solid 
organic growth. It has also been 
a year of even better operational 
performance and setting a higher 
bar than in previous years. 

We are particularly pleased to have 
delivered our 16th consecutive quarter 
of Adjusted EBITDA growth, achieved 
through top-line growth and continued 
focus on operational efficiencies. 

We were also delighted to open 2019 
on a high, with our announcement that 
we have entered into the South African 
market. The partnership with Vulatel 
and the acquisition of SA Towers 
represents a perfect fit of collective 
experience and expertise. Together 
we will address the infrastructure gap 
in South Africa and deliver lower cost, 
higher quality services to MNOs.

The Group is well positioned, with market-leading 
positions in some of the most attractive and 
fastest-growing telecom markets in Africa.
Kash Pandya | Chief Executive Officer

Revenue

+3%

2018: US$356m 
2017: US$345m

Adjusted EBITDA

+22%

2018: US$178m 
2017: US$146m

10 Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018

Performance overview 2018 
Helios Towers traded strongly in the 
year, delivering revenue growth of 3% 
to US$356 million, Adjusted EBITDA 
growth of 22% to US$178 million, and 
an operating profit of US$3 million, 
increasing US$27 million from an 
operating loss of US$24 million in 2017. 

The Group has delivered strong organic 
growth through new tenancies and 
expanded margins through operating 
leverage and continued execution of 
our business excellence strategy. 

Life-changing mobile 
communications
The Group is well positioned, being 
a market-leader in some of the 
most attractive and fastest-growing 
telecom markets in Africa.

In our markets there are many 
favourable macroeconomic trends. 
The population across all our markets 
is expected to expand by 37 million to 
266 million by 2023. This population 
is urbanising and over two-thirds 
are under the age of 30 – the rapidly 
growing tech-savvy young population 
who are driving the demand to be 
connected to each other, social 
media and streaming services.

This is combined with strong GDP 
growth forecast in our markets, which 
the IMF expects to be 5.1% annually to 
2023 (compared to 1.6% across the G7). 

Against this strong macroeconomic 
background, the telecommunications 
sector is experiencing significant 
growth. In fact, the growth in our 
markets is reminiscent of western 
market growth in the early 2000s, 
but with two essential differences: 
there is negligible competing fixed 
line availability, and millions are 
experiencing mobile for the first time 
at a superior smartphone-level. 

Strategic ReportHT Markets GDP growth
2017–2023E(1)

+5.1%

SSA: 3.3% 
G7: 1.6%

Mobile subscribers
2017–2023E(2)

+48m

In HT markets  
(excl. South Africa)

(1)  IMF estimates, weighted average by HT revenue

(2) GSMA intelligence, Hardiman report 2018

They are leapfrogging the upgrade 
path others have taken in the last two 
or three decades, and their daily lives 
are being transformed – not just by 
voice communication, but by online 
banking, online health consultations, 
education, access to live crop prices, 
tourism marketing and much more. 

We are well established and well 
positioned to work with our customers 
to provide the expertise and 
infrastructure needed to support their 
expansion plans to meet this demand. 

DRC’s new communications 
backbone
A significant project for the Group 
during 2018 was a major investment 
in upgrading and constructing 
a microwave backbone network 
covering 1,800km in DRC. Constructed 
across challenging jungle conditions 
in some of the most remote areas 
of DRC, this network replaces old 
satellite technology and provides 
improved infrastructure and 
connectivity to an estimated six 
million citizens in the country. 

DRC has one of the lowest mobile 
penetration rates in the world, with 
under 37% of its 84 million population 
having a mobile subscription. 
However, having experienced 15% 
mobile subscriber growth from 2011 
to 2018, it is growing quickly. 

Our investment supports the continued 
improvement and expansion of the 
network by local MNOs and follows 
the recent award of inaugural 4G 
licences to MNOs in DRC including 
Vodacom, Orange and Africell. 
Together, we are helping to connect 
and create economic prosperity for 
DRC’s growing and young population.

Pages 24–25 provide further information 
on our new communications backbone

I’d like to congratulate our technical 
and construction teams. They 
overcame numerous challenges, 
including physical access to the 
build sites, sourcing labour and 
materials, and scheduling in the 
face of heavy rains, to deliver a 
network that will have a significant 
impact on the local population.

Governance
We entered the year intending 
to launch an IPO, and in order to 
augment our team we welcomed Allan 
Cook as Chairman and a Director of 
the Company. After Helios Towers 
decided not to proceed with a listing 
in March 2018, Allan stepped down. 

Additionally, Carlos Reyes joined 
our Board as a representative of 
ALAC, following the resignation 
of Colin Curvey, and Umberto 
Pisoni was appointed as a 
Director, representing IFC.

Subsequent to year-end 2018, 
Waldemar Szlezak, who served 
on our Board as a representative 
of Soros Quantum Strategic 
Partners Ltd, resigned to pursue 
other opportunities and has been 
replaced by Joshua Ho-Walker.

Risk 
We continue to focus on risk 
management through enhanced 
compliance monitoring and reporting 
on high risk areas; these include anti-
bribery and corruption, third party 
management and conflicts of interest. 

We are also focused on technology 
risks and have engaged specialist 
IT consultants to address risks such 
as cybercrime, network access, and 
data privacy and security. Externally 
led training has also benefited 
key members of our project and 
operations teams in areas such as 
cost management, materials and 
customer contract requirements. 

Looking forward: 2019 and beyond 
Our aim as we enter 2019 is clear: 
continue our profitable growth story.

We will continue to mine the 
considerable opportunities in our 
existing markets and focus on 
continued growth through additional 
colocation volumes, amendment 
revenues and build-to-suit tenancies 
as well as margin expansion driven by 
additional operational efficiencies.

At the same time, a focus for us in 2019 
is to find new fertile markets in Africa 
where we can also bring our proven 
model and skills. As such, we are 
excited by the recent announcement 
of our entry into South Africa, through 
the partnership with Vulatel and the 
acquisition of SA Towers. We have  
long considered South Africa an 
attractive opportunity, due to 
its economic growth, population 
demographics and demand for 
advanced telecommunications 
services. By joining forces and 
sharing expertise, we will look to 
build our wireless and fixed line 
open access infrastructure in South 
Africa over the coming years.

Meanwhile, I thank our loyal customers 
whose faith in us has been endorsed 
by long-term commitments; our 
fantastic teams out in the field 
and in our various African and UK 
offices; and our supplier partners 
who have embraced our culture and 
goals, working collectively to help us 
continue on our exciting journey. 

Kash Pandya
Chief Executive Officer

Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018 11

Financial StatementsGovernance ReportStrategic ReportOverview 
Chief Executive Officer’s Q&A

Q&A

with our CEO 
Kash Pandya

Q

Kash, how would you characterise 2018 
for Helios Towers? 

A

I’d say it was another excellent year  
for Helios Towers, and one which 
demonstrated the attractiveness of our 
markets and success of our business 
excellence strategy.

Our tenancies and tenancy ratio increased 
to 13,549 and 2.01x, respectively, and 
through top-line growth and operational 
efficiencies we extended our run of 
Adjusted EBITDA growth to 16 
consecutive quarters. 

In Q1 2015, our Adjusted EBITDA margin 
stood at 25%. In just over three years, we 
have doubled our margin and exceeded 
our target of 50% in Q3 and Q4 2018, 
hitting 51% and 52% respectively. That’s  
a fantastic achievement, and one which 
we hope to continue to improve on. 

Q

So 2018 has been another strong story to 
add to the investment case? 

A

Absolutely. Our robust tenancy and 
revenue growth illustrates both the 
attractive macro dynamics in our markets 
and the value we are providing through a 
dedicated focus on critical infrastructure. 

Add to this the continued margin 
expansion I just mentioned, and I think it 
demonstrates the attractiveness of our 
business model and the power of our 
business excellence strategy. 

Rolling out new technologies for improved 
monitoring and control, reducing tower 
downtime, training 35% of our staff in 
Lean Six Sigma – these are some of the 
outcomes of our strategy and all of which 
contribute to the attractive margin 
expansion we’ve delivered over the  
last few years.

Even better, this strategy is transferable 
across new markets and that’s why we’re 
excited about our recently announced 
entry into South Africa.

Q

How would you describe your markets 
and their opportunities? 

A

Our markets are some of the most exciting 
and fast growing in Africa, with young and 
expanding populations. They are also 
increasingly urbanised, which correlates 
well with increased disposable income  
and demand for infrastructure. 

At the same time, mobile infrastructure is 
underpenetrated. There is still so much 
room for growth in our markets. 

Take DRC for example: they have a 
population of 84 million, yet only 37% 
have a mobile subscription and 50% are 
within mobile coverage. 

That’s approximately 50 million of the  
total population are still to be served  
and independent forecasts suggest  
there will be subscriber growth of 8% 
annually between now and 2023.  
As a critical mobile infrastructure  
provider and enabler, these dynamics  
are very attractive

Q

The fundamentals seem compelling  
but how do you control and manage  
risk in your markets to capitalise on  
these opportunities? 

A

Risk management is integral to the 
Group’s strategy and to achieving our 
goals. We dedicate significant resource to 
identify, assess, manage and monitor risks. 

Compliance risk is a particular area of 
focus and we’re developing a compliance 
culture through communication, training, 
sharing knowledge and active guidance. 

12 Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018

Strategic ReportWe make sure that all employees, and 
third parties, are aware of their compliance 
obligations and responsibilities. 

An important strength is that a number  
of our executive team have worked in 
developing countries and have the 
necessary experience to drive managing 
risk from the top. 

On the ground, we benefit from a 
workforce that is local and hyper-local. 
They are connected to the communities 
where our towers, and our technology, 
plays a critical part in people’s personal 
and business lives. So although we have 
security to protect our towers and our 
customers’ assets, local communities  
are invested in welcoming them too. 

Q

In terms of challenges, what was the main 
area of focus in 2018? 

A

Targeting world-class safety standards in 
emerging markets, where the safety 
culture is not as developed as it is in 
western markets, is a challenge. We come 
from the angle that only zero harm is an 
acceptable outcome. So having spent 
recent years laying the foundations, we 
were pleased to make some solid progress 
in essential areas such as working at 
height, working with power, heavy 
equipment, lifting, and so on.

But our greatest safety risk is actually 
outside our sites, and that’s from road 
traffic accidents. Any business working  
in our markets has the same issues. But 
we’re working hard on this as well, with 
more education through initiatives such as 
defensive-driving training programmes 
and continued investment in our and our 
partners’ vehicle fleets.

Importantly we are also collaborating with 
our suppliers and maintenance partners  
to improve safety standards. We jointly 
hosted a safety event in Tanzania with 
Nokia and Delmec. Over two days, 
delegates attended presentations,  
round table discussions and practical 
demonstrations showcasing international 
best practices. It received such good 
feedback that we are repeating the event. 
There is a real commitment to improve 
safety standards in our markets by many 
international organisations and I am 
delighted that Helios Towers is at the 
forefront of this.

It was an excellent year of organic growth. It’s been 
a year of doing things even better in our markets 
and raising the bar on what can be achieved.

Kash Pandya | Chief Executive Officer

Q

And how has collaboration progressed 
with your own partners? 

Q

You decided not to IPO last spring. But 
were there any positives that came from 
the experience?

A

Very well. We’ve invested in collaborating 
with our maintenance partners, to share 
the benefits of our culture, values and 
practices with their organisations. 
Historically, there had been a them-and-
us, customer-contractor relationship, but 
we swept that away. We launched a 
programme of physically sharing offices, 
exchanging ideas, listening to each other 
and establishing the culture of what we 
call “One Team, One Business”.

One example of this is our investment in 
Lean Six Sigma training. We have trained 
35% of our staff in Lean Six Sigma, and as 
importantly, we have also trained many of 
our maintenance partners. This approach 
means that we have really embedded the 
Lean Six Sigma philosophy through the 
value chain, ensuring we are looking at 
end-to-end solutions, which not only 
drives reliability up but also costs down.

Q

Can you point to any standout 
operational achievements?

A

There were many operational 
achievements in 2018, including delivering 
record results in tower uptime and 
significantly reducing maintenance  
site visits. 

We also continued to rollout the use of 
ServiceNow in Tanzania, DRC and Congo 
Brazzaville in the year. The technology 
gives us complete and real-time visibility 
on over 87% of our towers, reduces 
maintenance costs and waste, and further 
improves our customers’ experience. 

We expect to roll out ServiceNow in 
Ghana in 2019 and also drive further 
operational improvements in Tanzania, 
DRC and Congo Brazzaville.

A

Very much so. We spent significant time 
upgrading our systems and procedures in 
readiness, and we continue to benefit 
from that every day in terms of improved 
visibility and control. We further upgraded 
our processes and compliance to levels 
required by the Stock Exchange, and 
appointed a Head of Compliance. These 
increased standards are now business  
as usual. 

And it means that if and when we like the 
look of market conditions in the future, 
we’ll be ready. 

Q

Finally, you said 2018 has really been 
about organic growth in current markets. 
Will that be the script for 2019 as well?

A

Certainly organic growth is a key driver  
for 2019. We are focused on continuing to 
capitalise on the considerable potential in 
our existing markets, and to provide the 
critical infrastructure for our customers’ 
end-users’ demand. 

But another key element of our 2019 
strategy will be growth in new markets, 
and we’re excited to have kicked that off 
with our South Africa expansion. We have 
long considered it to be an attractive 
market due to its economic growth, 
population demographics and demand  
for advanced mobile services. Our 
partnership with Vulatel provides the 
platform we need to leverage the large 
wireless and fixed line open-access 
infrastructure opportunity ahead, and  
our acquisition of SA Towers only  
solidifies this. 

Having raised a US$100 million term loan 
for growth, we have the balance sheet to 
drive our expansion plans in both our 
existing and new markets and leverage 
our expertise to deliver for our customers, 
employees, investors and communities. 

Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018 13

Financial StatementsGovernance ReportStrategic ReportOverview 
Chief Financial Officer’s statement

Creating confidence 
through performance

We can look back on another very 
strong year. We closed 2018 with 
our 16th consecutive quarter of 
Adjusted EBITDA growth, continuing 
an uninterrupted growth story 
that began back in Q1 2015. 

Revenue growth
We continued to support our 
customers’ rapid coverage, capacity 
and technology expansion needs. Our 
revenue growth of 3% was driven by 
organic demand in all of our markets. 

Helios Towers delivered another year 
of impressive growth and margin 
expansion. Strong macro trends, a 
robust business model and focus on 
operational excellence continued 
to drive impressive results.

Additionally, we further strengthened 
our balance sheet through reducing 
leverage and increasing capital 
available for deployment.

In summary, 2018 saw us deliver 
another year of robust growth and 
improve our positioning for future 
organic and inorganic opportunities.

Group performance
In 2018, revenues grew by 3% from 
US$345 million to US$356 million and 
Adjusted EBITDA increased by 22% to 
US$178 million. As a result, Adjusted 
EBITDA margins expanded from 42% 
to 50%, in line with our expectations. 

We also achieved our first operating 
profit in a fiscal year, achieving a 
profit of US$3 million and increasing 
by US$27 million from an operating 
loss of US$24.0 million in 2017.

2018 saw us deliver another year 
of robust growth and improve 
our positioning for future organic 
and inorganic opportunities. 

Tom Greenwood | Chief Financial 
Officer

Adjusted EBITDA margin

+8 percentage points

2018: 50% 
2017: 42%

14 Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018

Notably, 87% of revenues in 2018 
were from Africa’s “Big 5” MNOs 
and 57% was denominated in hard 
currencies, either in US dollars or 
EUR pegged. Looking forward, 
we are well positioned with US$3.1 
billion in contracted revenue with an 
average remaining life of 8.1 years. 

Adjusted EBITDA margin growth 
This year we passed a significant 
milestone in achieving a 52% 
Adjusted EBITDA margin in Q4 
2018, up from 25% in Q1 2015 and 
reflecting 16 consecutive quarters 
of Adjusted EBITDA growth. 
This demonstrates the strong 
operational leverage of our business, 
and focus on business excellence. 

In 2018, we continued to reduce the 
cost of delivering reliable power to our 
towers. This was achieved through 
installing 131 solar solutions, 46 grid 
connections, and 390 hybrid solutions. 
Adding to our prior installations, we 
have now rolled out over 430 solar 
solutions, 400 grid connections  
and 640 hybrid solutions.

We also pioneered new technology 
through the digitalisation of our field 
operations with ServiceNow. This 
technology significantly improves 
the maintenance and control of 
our assets through providing real-
time monitoring. It also drives up 
service quality to our customers. 

Strategic ReportAdjusted EBITDA growth (US$m)

Margin

25%

27%

28%

28%

35%

35%

39%

38%

40%

40%

42%

46%

47%

49%

51%

31

32

33

35

37

41

42

44

45

52%

47

11

12

15

16

21

21

Q1’15

Q2’15

Q3’15

Q4’15

Q1’16

Q2’16

Q3’16

Q4’16

Q1’17

Q2’17

Q3’17

Q4’17

Q1’18

Q2’18

Q3’18

Q4’18

Looking to 2019, we expect to continue 
achieving operational improvements, 
and to further benefit from strong 
operating leverage and available 
capacity on our existing asset base. 

Liquidity and net debt position
We are well positioned to capitalise on 
the organic and inorganic opportunities 
available, in part due to: 

•  US$100 million term loan raised in 
Q4 2018, which will be used for 
future expansion in existing and new 
markets and for general corporate 
purposes. As at 31 December 2018, 
US$25 million was drawn;

•  unlevered recurring free cash flow(1) 
of US$158 million in FY18, up 29% 
from FY17;

•  net leverage(2) level of 3.5x in Q4 
2018, decreasing from 3.6x in Q4 
2017 and at the lower end of our 
3.5-4.5x target range; and

•  significant liquidity options including 
cash on the balance sheet of US$90 
million, term loan availability of 
US$75 million, and a revolving credit 
facility of US$60 million, amounting 
to a total of US$225 million liquidity 
available at year-end 2018. 

During 2018 we also maintained 
our credit ratings of B2 corporate 
family rating (“CFR”) by Moody’s 
Investors Service and a preliminary 
B long-term corporate credit rating 
by S&P. As well as positioning us to 
maximise possible opportunities, we 
were pleased to receive this further 
endorsement of our strategy and team.

Dividend
Given our ambitions to invest in our 
current businesses and expand into new 
markets, the Directors recommended 
that no dividends be paid for the year 
ended 31 December 2018. 

Outlook
We are confident and excited as we 
enter 2019, and are targeting another 
year of growth, both organically in 
our existing markets and through 
continuing to explore further expansion 
and acquisition opportunities 
across the African continent.

Tom Greenwood
Chief Financial Officer

Material recent developments

South African partnership with 
Vulatel

Acquired controlling interest in 
SA Towers 

US$100m term loan facility

•  In January 2019, announced South African partnership with Vulatel
•  Expect to make major greenfield wireless and fixed-line telecoms infrastructure 

investments in South Africa

•  South African expansion provides Helios Towers further geographic diversification 

into a fifth country; one of the largest and most attractive markets in Africa

•  In January 2019, also announced first investment in South Africa - the acquisition of 

a controlling interest in the business of SA Towers

•  Includes a pipeline of potential tower sites on more than 500 urban locations 

across the country

•  In October 2018, signed a US$100 million term loan facility with The Standard Bank 
of South Africa Limited (mandated lead arranger), Barclays Bank Mauritius Limited 
and The Mauritius Commercial Bank Limited 

•  The facility will be used to support our intentions to seek opportunities in new 
markets across Africa, including South Africa, as well as future expansion in our 
current markets and general corporate purposes

(1)  Calculated as Adjusted EBITDA less tax paid less maintenance and corporate capital expenditure
(2) Calculated as net debt divided by annualised Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter

Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018 15

Financial StatementsGovernance ReportStrategic ReportOverview 
Business model

Our vision is to be the leading  
African telecom tower company

Our strengths and  
market opportunities

Our operating 
platform

Financial model
•  Long-term contracts
•  Stable cash flows

We have an efficient  
tower-sharing model

Market context
•  High growth markets with 

limited infrastructure in place

•  Significant future growth 

expected 

Our people
•  Localised workforce
•  Highly experienced  
management team

Strong relationships
•  With customers and suppliers
•  Best-in-class customer 

experience

Innovation and 
technology
•  Digital solutions
•  Innovative use of renewable 

power sources

16 Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018

Anchor
tenants

Colocation
tenants

Amendment 
colocations

We provide reliable  
power sources to tenants

On-grid

Diesel

Hybrid  
and solar

We add ancillary services

Data centres

Fibre 
backhaul

Small cells

Strategic ReportOur long-term  
growth strategy

Our 
stakeholders

We have three strategic 
priorities

1 Growth
• In existing markets
• In new markets
• In new products and services

2 Business 

excellence
• Supply chain optimisation
• Business digitalisation
• Lean Six Sigma

3 Sustainability

• Building partnerships
• Training local people
• Environmental responsibility
• Embedding our values

Society
We contribute to building local
economies that enable businesses  
and individuals to grow.

Employees
We provide employment and training 
opportunities for local people, with  
us and our partners.

Environment
We reduce environmental  
impacts through our sustainable 
operating platform.

Shareholders
We offer financial returns and 
significant opportunities for  
future growth.

Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018 17

Financial StatementsGovernance ReportStrategic ReportOverview 
 
 
Market overview

Why Africa?

Vast territories, growing young populations, 
under-penetrated with minimal fixed line 
infrastructure; the African market 
fundamentals for mobile are compelling.

African markets: dynamics and characteristics

The UN forecasts population growth across the continent of Africa 
will triple in this century, to around 4.5 billion. Africa is also one of the 
world’s most rapidly urbanising populations. Of the world’s top ten 
fastest-growing cities, all are African and two are in our markets of 
DRC (Kinshasa) and Tanzania (Dar es Salaam). 

These strong population trends are further enhanced by impressive 
GDP growth across Africa to create a compelling macro environment 
for investment. Of the World Bank’s top ten fastest-growing 
economies in 2018, six are in Africa (including our markets of  
Ghana and Tanzania). 

Top ten fastest-growing economies(1) 
(2018)

Top ten fastest-growing cities(2) 
(2018-2035E)

6 in Africa

incl. Ghana and Tanzania

10 in Africa

incl. Kinshasa and Dar es Salaam

)
s
n
o

i
l
l
i

b
(
n
o
i
t
a
u
p
o
P

l

6

5

4

3

2

1

0

Forecast

Africa

1950

1960

1970

1980

1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050 2060 2070 2080 2090 2100

Africa

Asia

Latin America and the Caribbean

Northern America

Europe

(1)  World Bank, 2018
(2) United Nations Population Prospects, 2018

18 Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018

In Africa, multiple metrics support 
the case for investment in mobile 
and infrastructure: 

•  A growing population. The total 
population of Africa is expected 
to more than triple over the next 
80 years, significantly faster than 
any other region.

•  A young, receptive population. 
Africa has the largest proportion 
of the population under 30 years 
old. This is the demographic  
that embraces technology, and 
consumes data through services 
such as WhatsApp, Twitter and 
Instagram. This drives MNOs to 
continue significant investment 
in improving and expanding their 
networks in our markets. 

•  An urbanising population. The 
top 10 fastest-growing cities to 
2035 are expected to be African, 
and two are in our markets of 
DRC (Kinshasa) and Tanzania 
(Dar es Salaam). 

•  Poor fixed line availability. With 
limited or no fixed line availability, 
communicating across the  
vast African territories is 
predominately through mobile. 

Helios Towers is well positioned to 
benefit from the resulting growth in 
under-penetrated markets in Africa.

Strategic Report 
Our markets

We are in our markets by design. We have 
targeted markets with high population growth, 
underpenetrated mobile services and with 
multiple MNOs as customers. 

Our markets: dynamics and characteristics

Tanzania

DRC

In 2018, Tanzania was 
one of the fastest-
growing economies in 
the world and Dar es 
Salaam is forecast to 
be one of the fastest-
growing cities globally. 

Tanzania has experienced 
strong mobile subscription 
growth of 9% CAGR 
between 2011 and 2017, and 
independent forecasts 
expect a further 6% CAGR 
to 2023. 

Similar to our other 
markets, strong macro 
and demographic trends 
in Tanzania are driving 
demand for mobile and 
telecommunications 
infrastructure.

The MNOs continue 
to see potential and 
invest. In 2018, Vodacom 
and Azam were both 
awarded 4G licences 
which should drive the 
need for more PoS. 

DRC is the second largest 
country in Africa and 
covers an area the size 
of Western Europe. Its 
population exceeded 
84 million in 2018, and 
is forecast to reach 
almost 100 million within 
the next five years. 

By 2035, the UN predicts 
that the population will 
double in Kinshasa, 
the DRC’s capital city, 
making it the seventh 
largest city in the world.

However, mobile 
penetration is low at 
37% and only 50% of 

the country has mobile 
coverage today.

The scope for growth is 
therefore vast. Between 
2011 and 2017 DRC 
saw significant mobile 
subscription growth of 16% 
annually, and independent 
forecasts project a further 
8% CAGR to 2023.

Recently awarded 4G 
licences to Orange, Africell 
and Vodacom add to 
the potential growth and 
demonstrate the demand 
for better connectivity. 

Subscriber growth(1) 
(Q317-Q318)

+7%

Mobile penetration(1)

40%

Subscriber growth(1) 
(Q317-Q318)

+12%

Mobile penetration(1)

37%

(1)  GSMA estimates, 2018

(1)  GSMA estimates, 2018

Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018 19

Financial StatementsGovernance ReportStrategic ReportOverview 
Market overview

Continued

We’ve chosen these markets because they are 
some of the fastest-growing markets on the 
planet. It is forecast that there will be 48 million 
additional new phone subscribers in our four 
established markets by 2023.
Tom Greenwood | Chief Financial Officer

Our markets: dynamics and characteristics (continued)

Ghana

3

Congo Brazzaville 

The most advanced of our 
markets with 53% mobile 
penetration, Ghana also 
has high smartphone 
ownership which drives 
increased demand for data. 

Between 2011 and 2017 
Ghana saw mobile 
subscription growth of 9% 
annually, and independent 
forecasts project a further 
4% CAGR to 2023. 

This is supported 
by government-led 
initiatives, such as the 
rural telephony project, 

which will accelerate 
mobile penetration in the 
country and drive organic 
growth for our business. 

In 2017, a significant 
merger took place 
between Airtel and Tigo, 
with the new operation 
taking the No. 2 spot. 

The merger is expected 
to catalyse network 
investment by operators as 
competition ramps up, and 
create further opportunities 
for our business. 

4G licence launches 
have driven higher data 
demand, and our towers 
are well located to meet 
increasing densification 
requirements. 

Congo Brazzaville is our 
smallest market, with a 
population of 5 million.  
It has mobile penetration 
of 46% and experienced 
strong mobile subscription 
growth of 4% annually 
between 2011 and 2017. 

Independent forecasts 
expect a further 3% 
CAGR to 2023.

Subscriber growth(1) 
(Q317-Q318)

+1%

Mobile penetration(1)

53%

(1)  GSMA estimates, 2018

20 Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018

Subscriber growth(1) 
(Q317-Q318)

+1%

Mobile penetration(1)

46%

(1)  GSMA estimates, 2018

Strategic ReportHelios Towers | Annual Report 2018 21

Strategic ReportFinancial StatementsGovernance ReportOverviewStrategy in action

New markets

Helios Towers 
enters South  
Africa

As well as exploring opportunities within our existing 
markets, our strategy has also been to investigate new 
attractive African markets where we can expand our 
geographic footprint and product offering. In January 
2019 we were pleased to announce our entry into South 
Africa through our partnership with Vulatel and 
subsequent acquisition of SA Towers.

As a leading African independent 
tower company, South Africa is a 
market we have been looking to enter 
for some time due to its economic 
growth, population demographics  
and demand for advanced 
telecommunications services.

opportunities through supporting the 
growth strategies of all the MNOs by 
building towers and other open access 
infrastructure in the country, providing 
support for their current 4G needs and 
additional requirements for their 
extensive rollout plans for 5G networks.

South Africa is one of the continent’s 
largest economies and has a population 
of 57 million, which is forecast to 
increase by a further three million  
over the next five years. Similar to  
our other markets, the young and 
increasingly urbanised population  
are driving the demand for improved 
mobile connectivity.

There are roughly 30,000 towers in 
South Africa, with only 10% owned by 
independent tower companies. In 
addition to the significant inorganic 
opportunities, there are organic 

Partnership with Vulatel 
Local insight and expertise is an 
important component of any Helios 
Towers expansion plan. Therefore we 
were delighted to create the Helios 
Towers South Africa (“HTSA”) 
infrastructure platform through a 
partnership with local experts Vulatel 
(Pty) Ltd (“Vulatel”). Vulatel is led and 
run by ex-Vodacom Directors who 
have deep telco sector expertise and 
local credentials. Vulatel is a 69% 
black-owned and 45% black women-
owned business with a Level 2 B-BBEE 
(Broad Based Black Economic 
Empowerment) rating.

SA Towers acquisition 
Following the announcement of our 
partnership, we were thrilled to 
announce that HTSA had taken a 
controlling stake in local tower 
company, SA Towers. This young 
company, created in 2016, already has a 
pipeline of potential tower sites, ready 
to be built or in the permitting process, 
in more than 500 urban locations. The 
agreement gives HTSA rapid scale and 
local town planning expertise in South 
Africa, as we offer infrastructure and 
build support to MNOs looking to 
advance their 4G and 5G networks.

Outlook 
South Africa represents an exciting new 
market for Helios Towers and through 
our partnership with Vulatel and the 
acquisition of SA Towers we have the 
foundations to support the forecasted 
strong growth of MNOs in South Africa 
for the coming years.

22 Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018

Strategic ReportPopulation

57m

% urbanised

66%

Towers

c.30,000

% towers owned by independent operators

c.10%

I am thrilled to announce 
our entry into South Africa, 
which delivers against our 
stated strategy of providing 
MNOs with open-access 
infrastructure to meet the 
growing demands of their 
customers in Africa for fast, 
stable and available 
networks. 

Kash Pandya | Chief Executive 
Officer

Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018 23
Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018 23

Strategic ReportFinancial StatementsGovernance ReportOverviewStrategy in action

Continued

Organic growth

Completed:  
1,800km 
communications 
backbone in DRC

Organic growth within our markets is a key focus area, 
delivering leading-edge infrastructure to the populations 
our customers want to serve, regardless of geography.

In 2018 we announced the construction 
of a new communications backbone 
network to deliver high capacity 
microwave technology to DRC. 

Spanning the equivalent distance of 
London to Rome, the investment 
focuses on the equatorial rainforest  
and the Kasaï-Central province. 

The backbone comprises towers at 
least 80 metres in height, standing 
above the forest canopy and 
interspersed at distances of up to 
40km. Together, they will deliver new 
and improved mobile services to some 
six million citizens.

Why is the project needed? 
The telecommunications market in  
DRC is already one of the fastest 
growing in Africa, and the inaugural  
4G licences awarded to the major 
operators in 2018 are expected to  
drive further robust growth. 

24 Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018

Our new microwave backbone will 
replace existing satellites, allowing 
operators to extend their coverage in 
DRC and have the infrastructure to be 
able to further market 3G and, soon,  
4G services.

Each heavy-duty tower has been 
specially designed and fabricated for 
decades of service ahead. This means 
allowing ample capacity for the big 
three MNOs to colocate, densify and 
expand their networks in the future. 

Execution excellence
The lack of road access to many of the 
sites, as well as physical obstructions 
and heavy seasonal rains, meant that 
the project demanded exceptional 
planning and a determined team. The 
furthest site location meant mobilising 
the teams and all materials some 
1,200km away from the project’s 
central warehouse. 

The experience we have gained 
positions us well as we address further 
expansion projects in our markets,  
and beyond.

Strategic ReportWe built a backbone to 
make sure there is the 
infrastructure to provide 
network coverage in new 
territories of DRC. This 
provides mobile signal to 
six million more people.

Kash Pandya | Chief Executive 
Officer

Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018 25

Strategic ReportFinancial StatementsGovernance ReportOverviewStrategy in action

Continued

Operational excellence 

The  
digitalisation 
dividend

Customised digital tools are equipping teams to deliver 
world-class operations and maintenance.

A key element of our proposition is 
an ability to deliver a reliable, fully 
powered fleet of towers, at a highly 
competitive rate.

This requires a complete understanding 
between our operating companies and 
our maintenance partners. To achieve 
this, we created a “One Team, One 
Business” strategy that extended to 
sharing offices, the same operations 
management systems, and joining our 
Lean Six Sigma training. 

Significantly, the entire operation  
has harnessed the opportunities  
of digitalisation. Our teams take 
smartphone technology into the  
field, delivering consistent and 
analysable data. This informs our 
customised ServiceNow platform, 
which, in 2018, gave us complete and 
real-time visibility of all of our towers  
in Tanzania, DRC and Congo B. 

The smartphone technology enables 
the collection of data from all areas of 
the network, thereby enabling our 
management teams to optimise  
service deployments and react  
to live circumstances.

This combination of better information, 
teamwork, and smarter working has 
delivered some remarkable results. 
In Tanzania, for example, 12 months 
of this digitalisation programme has:

•  Reduced reported site outages by 

59% from Q1 2018 to Q4 2018; 
•  improved time-to-fix by 25% for 

first-time fixes; and

•  reduced time spent manually 

recording and documenting issues  
by over 50%.

Two years ago, service visits in 
Tanzania averaged 6.2 per month; now, 
they’re at 1.5 per month. In a country 
where road accidents are our highest 
risk, this means we have driven 
266,000 fewer kilometres a month 
than the previous two years – as well 
as reducing emissions through saving 
38,000 litres of fuel a month. 

This initiative won the Tower 
Exchange’s Operational Efficiency 
Initiative of the Year 2017, and its 
multiple benefits flowed through 
into 2018. 

26 Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018

Strategic Report 
We have created a “One Team, 
One Business” ethos with our 
partners that extended to sharing 
offices and taking part in joint 
Lean Six Sigma training.

Kash Pandya | Chief Executive Officer

Service visits in Tanzania averaged

1.5 per month

2016: 6.2 per month, prior to new 
process implementation

Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018 27

Strategic ReportFinancial StatementsGovernance ReportOverviewSustainability

Our continued 
focus on safety, 
efficiencies  
and impact

At Helios Towers we believe a sustainable 
business must succeed against three 
distinct measures. 

(1)  It must be built on enduring and efficient 

economics.

(2) It must recognise that a company is a 

group of people, and one that treats 
everyone fairly, equally and safely.  

(3) And it must be accountable for its 
actions on the land and the planet. 

Our goal is to excel in each. As a young 
company we still have a journey ahead,  
but we have made significant and certified 
progress in 2018. 

Our business proposition 
Our business plays a vital role 
in the daily lives of people and 
businesses across Africa. 

Our sharing model enables MNOs 
to colocate their equipment onto 
single tower locations. 

This immediately removes the need 
for wasteful duplication, unnecessary 
tower constructions, multiple power 
generators and emissions, and 
many thousands of miles driven in 
parallel maintenance programmes. 

Going home safe, every day 
We are only satisfied when we 
can close every day with zero 
harm recorded, for both our 
employees and our partners. 

In 2018, we were pleased to see 
an improving trend in health and 
safety, as the training we put in 
place in previous years began to 
manifest itself in safer behaviours.

28 Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018

Strategic ReportDuring the year, we were delighted to 
see zero lost-time injuries among our 
employees for the second year running. 

However, in common with many 
businesses in Africa, road traffic 
accidents remain the biggest 
single safety risk factor we face. 
In response, we have trained more 
than 450 people in defensive driving 
techniques – and this is just one of 
the comprehensive programmes we 
have implemented to heighten driver 
awareness, vehicle safety and better 
behaviours through remote monitoring. 

We also took the lead, together with 
Nokia and one of our key partners 
and structural consultants, Delmec, 
in creating a new industry event to 
promote safer working at height 
and heavy lifting (see page 31). 

Local businesses, local people
As our local businesses grow, we 
have progressively reduced the need 
for expatriates. The vast majority 
of our people are local, bringing 
insights and market knowledge 
that they, uniquely, possess.

In every country, we offer equal 
opportunities for all and do not 
discriminate on grounds of gender, 
faith, ethnicity, disability or orientation. 
We pay fair market rates, and every 
direct employee earns more than 
the statutory minimum wage. 

Case study

Mobile charge, 
free of charge

During 2018 we trialled a 
new initiative to benefit our 
local communities in 
Tanzania and DRC. 

We installed solar-powered 
street lights at two of our 
sites in Tanzania and five in 
DRC, but with a difference: 
they each have in-built USB 
ports where local people 
can bring their mobiles and 
recharge them. 

In Tanzania, we have also 
created small covered 
areas where they can sit 
and wait. In some cases, 
these have been built 
using steel repurposed 
from old towers that we 
have decommissioned 
as we have optimised 
our network. 

We’re delighted to make 
this gesture to our local 
communities, which also 
encourages the use of our 
customers’ networks. Initial 
feedback has been very 
positive, and we are looking 
to extend the concept 
across all our markets.

Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018 29

Financial StatementsGovernance ReportStrategic ReportOverviewInvesting in talent

35%

of our employees trained in  
Lean Six Sigma

Environmental focus

430 sites

equipped with solar technology

Investing in talent
In 2018, we reinforced our emphasis 
on local talent with a continuing and 
significant investment in Lean Six 
Sigma Orange Belt and Black Belt 
training. Although primarily for our 
own employees, this has also included 
certain members of our maintenance 
partners, strengthening our highly 
productive “one team” ethos. By the 
end of 2018, 35% of our people had 
been through this training, and we are 
targeting 50% by the end of 2019. 

We also introduced Mind Gym 
training, which specialises in 
leadership development.

Our environmental focus
Every business brings with it an 
environmental impact. In our case, 
we erect towers in order to connect 
populations, and we use fuel to 
power our generators and to travel 
to our sites to maintain them.

In 2018 we continued our programme 
to find ways of minimising those 
impacts. We equipped a further 131 
tower locations with solar technology, 
bringing the total to 430. We also 
made 46 further connections to power 
grids where they’re available, and 
created a further 390 hybrid solutions. 

The investment in solar technology 
and hybrid solutions in 2018 will avoid 
the emission of more than 5,000 
tonnes of CO2 each year moving 
forward, while also delivering millions 
of dollars in fuel cost savings.

By developing smarter, leaner 
programmes with our partners, 
we have also slashed the number of 
maintenance miles we drive. In Tanzania 
alone, by reducing our site visits to 1.5 
per month we travelled 266,000 fewer 
kilometres a month compared to 2016, 
before implementation of these 
programmes. This saved a further 72 
tonnes of emissions and, as importantly, 
reduced road risks by taking 2,163 fewer 
monthly journeys. 

In many cases, our business model 
allows operators to dismantle and 
recycle their existing towers, because 
we can meet their needs more 
effectively. This also lessens the 
visual impact on the landscape, and 
with this in mind we are developing 
a number of ways of concealing our 
smaller urban equipment. These 
include hiding in street furniture and 
building “palm tree” antennae.

Certified operations
In early 2018 we were pleased to 
gain the integrated certifications of 
ISO 9001 (for quality management 
systems), 14001 (environmental 
management) and OHSAS 18001 
certification (occupational health 
and safety management).

These apply to all of our African-
based businesses. Our London 
office gained ISO 9001 recognition 
to add to the OHSAS 18001 
certification it already held.

We are now preparing for ISO 
37001 (anti-bribery and corruption), 
to gain formal recognition for the 
rigorous controls and systems 
that we have put in place. 

Sustainability

Continued

Local workforce (%)

Tanzania

96%

DRC

97%

Ghana

96%

Congo B

96%

30 Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018

Strategic Report 
 
Strengthening compliance 
Like health and safety, it is of paramount 
importance to us that compliance is 
front-of-mind in every employee. 

We reinforced our commitment to this 
area in late 2017 through creating a 
new role - Group Head of Compliance. 
This was followed by a comprehensive 
set of new or upgraded compliance 
policies and procedures, which 
became effective from 1 January 
2018. They range from acting with 
integrity and third-party due diligence, 
to GDPR and modern slavery, each 
sitting alongside and reinforcing our 
existing code of business conduct. 

As importantly, we also initiated a 
programme to embed these new 
policies into business-as-usual 
behaviour, with tailored training that 
aligned specific content to relevant job 
roles; for example, financial probity for 
colleagues working in procurement.

Case study

Lifting safety 
to new heights

Helios Towers is not only 
determined to operate to 
the highest standards of 
safety, but to work with 
other organisations to 
improve the standards 
across the industry as  
a whole. 

Safety is a priority across  
all of our business, and we 
take pride in being a leader 
and pushing for improved 
safety standards.

In 2018, we co-launched  
a safety conference 
together with Nokia  
and our structural tower 
consultants, Delmec. This 
inaugural event was held in 
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania 
and focused on one of the 
highest areas of risk for all 
three companies – lifting 
and working on towers. 

At the event, best  
practices were discussed 
and techniques and 
technologies were 
demonstrated that not  
only protect a workforce 
and reduce potential risks, 
but can also help deliver 
return on investments. 

With its mix of 
presentations, panel 
discussions and workshops, 
the event brought together 
health and safety officers, 
suppliers, customers and 
regulators. The feedback 
was overwhelmingly 
positive, leading to a  
second event being  
held in Nairobi, Kenya  
in January 2019. 

Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018 31

Financial StatementsGovernance ReportStrategic ReportOverviewSustainability

Continued

Sustainability

Sustainability 
through 
connectivity

As we build infrastructure that takes mobile into rural 
Africa, we are helping remote communities to develop 
and thrive in new ways.

We believe we have a duty to help 
sustain the local African communities 
where we operate. We offer high-
quality employment, directly and 
indirectly, and train and develop 
localised workforces. 

Masai-tribe.com, where they can now 
offer a host of exciting possibilities to 
the world: from a visit to their villages, 
to longer stays and accommodation in 
their huts for a true Masai experience, 
to safaris.

But in addition, our infrastructure is  
also playing a key role in sustaining 
communities. By owning and operating 
critical mobile communications 
infrastructure, we enable mobile 
operators to expand their networks 
more efficiently, and in turn, help 
people to generate income and 
develop their communities.

Just one example is the Masai tribe in 
the Manyara Region of Tanzania. Since 
our towers brought network coverage 
to their locality, this tribe has captured 
the opportunities of mobile voice and 
data communications.

They are now active users of social 
media including Facebook, Instagram, 
Twitter and YouTube. This drives 
tourism traffic to their new website, 

Together with sales of hand-crafted 
jewellery, clothing and other souvenirs, 
the tribe has been able to generate  
new sources of income. In turn, this  
has enabled them to build their own 
kindergarten and prepare children  
for secondary school and beyond.

In the same way, populations 
throughout our markets are discovering 
new opportunities through services 
including online banking, healthcare, 
news, and the breadth and depth of  
the internet reaching new people  
and places all the time.

We’re proud of the part we play in 
building this connectivity, and 
delivering meaningful social benefits 
across the continent of Africa.

32 Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018

Strategic ReportHelios Towers | Annual Report 2018 33

Strategic ReportFinancial StatementsGovernance ReportOverviewOperating review

Partnering
with our 
customers

We partner with our customers to provide 
critical mobile infrastructure and services, 
supporting their rollout and network  
coverage plans. 

Across our markets MNOs continue to invest  
to improve and expand their networks. In 2018, 
operators continued to roll out 3G and invest  
in 4G, evident through Tanzania and DRC 
awarding a number of new 4G licences. 
Accordingly, we worked with MNOs to roll  
out more sites and increase standard and 
amendment colocations.

We also drew on deep experience to help newly 
merged networks maximise the benefits of 
integration. Most notably in 2018, we won an 
open tender that followed the Airtel/Tigo 
merger in Ghana. 

The renegotiated contract showed partnership 
at its best: the new entity achieved the 
efficiencies it required, and Helios Towers 
gained long-term Adjusted EBITDA growth 
through a contract extension from five years  
to fifteen years.

34 Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018

Tanzania

Key highlights 
(US$ millions)

Revenue
Adjusted EBITDA
Total sites
Total tenancies
Tenancy ratio

FY18

FY17

149.9
86.2
3,701
7,848
2.12x

141.2
66.8
3,491
7,392
2.12x

One of our strongest performing 
markets in 2018, with revenues 
increasing by 6.1% and Adjusted 
EBITDA growth of 28.9%. 

This was driven by significant 
investment, with MNOs upgrading their 
networks to deliver next-generation 
services across our infrastructure. 
We also helped operators to grow 
coverage and develop commercial 
offerings tailored to rural areas. 

Tenancies increased by 456 to 7,848 
and sites increased by 210, to 3,701. 
Our tenancy ratio was 2.12x at year end.

Following the recent 4G auction, 
Vodacom and a new MNO, Azam, who 
recently entered the market, were 
awarded licences. We expect to see 
continued growth as MNOs expand  
and improve their networks. 

Adjusted EBITDA growth

29%

2018: US$86.2m 
2017: US$66.8m

Strategic ReportDRC

Key highlights 
(US$ millions)

Revenue
Adjusted EBITDA
Total sites
Total tenancies
Tenancy ratio

Ghana

Key highlights 
(US$ millions)

Revenue
Adjusted EBITDA
Total sites
Total tenancies
Tenancy ratio

FY18

FY17

140.9
72.5
1,773
3,492
1.97x

140.2
66.5
1,819
3,347
1.84x

Congo B

Key highlights
(US$ millions)

Revenue
Adjusted EBITDA
Total sites
Total tenancies
Tenancy ratio

FY18

FY17

41.0
22.8
891
1,680
1.89x

40.1
17.8
825
1,723
2.09x

FY18

FY17

24.3
12.1
380
529
1.39x

23.4
9.8
384
525
1.37x

Given the low levels of mobile 
penetration in DRC, it represents a 
market with significant growth potential. 
We are well positioned to provide the 
critical infrastructure to improve the 
coverage that is demanded.

Tenancies increased by 145 to 3,492  
at the end of 2018, with 118 additional 
tenancies coming in the fourth quarter, 
positioning us well as we enter 2019. 

Revenues and Adjusted EBITDA 
increased 0.5% and 9.0% respectively  
in the year. 

Power expenses were reduced by over 
US$3 million in the year, partially driven 
by investments in solar technology, grid 
connections and hybrid solutions. 

The Airtel/Tigo merger in Ghana, signed 
in October 2017, led to an excellent 
outcome for Helios Towers in 2018. 

Our smallest market has delivered a 
solid performance in operational 
excellence and service delivery.

In an open tender, we were selected as 
the tower company of choice for the 
new entity, which has become the No. 2 
operator in Ghana. The new contract 
extends our agreement from 5 to 15 
years, offsetting a minor net reduction 
of colocations.

Total sites increased by 66 to 891, and 
tenancies decreased by 43 to 1,680, 
reflecting the impact of the Airtel-Tigo 
merger.

Revenues increased 2.1% from US$40.1 
million to US$41.0 million, and Adjusted 
EBITDA increased 28.1% from US$17.8 
million to $22.8 million, driven primarily 
by a reduction in operating expenses. 

This is best highlighted by our Adjusted 
EBITDA margin growth, which expanded 
790 basis points from 41.9% in 2017 to 
49.8% in 2018. 

Through improvements in our 
procurement process, we lowered 
maintenance costs by US$1.0 million 
year-on-year. In addition, we also 
reduced SG&A expenses by  
US$0.6 million.

As a result, Adjusted EBITDA increased 
by 23.7% to US$12.1 million.

Total sites decreased by 4 to 380, and 
tenancies increased by 4 to 529.

Adjusted EBITDA growth

Adjusted EBITDA growth

Adjusted EBITDA growth

9%

2018: US$72.5m 
2017: US$66.5m

28%

2018: US$22.8m 
2017: US$17.8m

24%

2018: US$12.1m 
2017: US$9.8m

Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018 35

Financial StatementsGovernance ReportStrategic ReportOverviewDetailed financial review

Consolidated Statement of profit or loss
For the year ended 31 December 2018

Revenue
Cost of sales

Gross profit

Administrative expenses
Loss on disposal of property, plant and equipment

Operating profit/(loss)

Investment income
Other gains and losses 
Finance costs

Loss before tax

Tax expense

Loss for the year

Key metrics 

2018 
US$’000

2017  

US$’000

356,049
(255,848)

344,957
(275,651)

100,201

69,306

(91,059)
(5,835)

(91,261)
(2,018)

3,307

(23,973)

951
(16,831)
(107,005)

706
21,797
(102,757)

(119,578)

(104,227)

(4,369)

(3,207)

(123,947)

(107,434)

(US$millions)

2018

2017

2018

2017

2018

2017

2018

2017

2018

2017

Group

Tanzania

DRC

Congo Brazzaville

Ghana

Revenue
Gross margin(1)
Sites at beginning of year
Sites at year end
Tenancies at beginning 
of year
Tenancies at year end
Tenancy ratio at year end
Adjusted EBITDA
Adjusted EBITDA margin

 $356.0  $345.0  $149.9
65%
 3,491 
 3,701 
 7,392 

56%
6,477
6,519
 12,987  12,509

63%
6,519
6,745

12,987
13,549
1.99x
 2.01x 
 $177.6  $146.0
42%

50%

7,848
 2.12x 
 $86.2 
57%

$141.2
56%
3,465
3,491
7,163

7,392
2.12x
$66.8
47%

$140.9
60%
1,819
1,773
3,347

3,492
1.97x
$72.5
51%

$140.2
55%
1,832
1,819
3,179

3,347
1.84x
$66.5
47%

 $24.3
67%
 384 
380
 525 

529
 1.39x 
 $12.1 
50%

$23.4
61%
394
384
529

525
1.37x
$9.8
42%

 $41.0 
66%
 825 
891
 1,723 

1,680
 1.89x 
 $22.8 
56%

$40.1
56%
786
825
1,638

1,723
2.09x
$17.8
44%

(1)  Gross margin means gross profit, adding back site and warehouse depreciation, divided by revenue.

Revenue
Revenue increased by 3% to US$356.0 million in the year ended 31 December, 2018 from US$345.0 million in the year ended 
31 December, 2017. The increase in revenue was largely driven by colocation, amendment, and build-to-suit revenues. 
Increased revenue in Tanzania of 6% year on year, was primarily attributable to the increase in overall tenancies from 7,392 to 
7,848 as of 31 December, 2017 to 31 December, 2018. Revenue growth in DRC Congo Brazzaville and Ghana was driven by an 
increase in build-to-suit revenues.

36 Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018

Strategic reportCost of sales 

(US$’000s) 

Power
Non-power
Site depreciation

Total cost of sales

Year Ended 31 December,

% of Revenue 

% of Revenue 

2018

81,886
49,870
124,092

255,848

2018

23.0%
14.0%
34.9%

71.9%

2017

93,756
58,679
123,216

275,651

2017

27.2%
17.0%
35.7%

79.9%

The table below shows an analysis of the cost of sales on a country-by-country basis for the years ended 31 December, 2017 
and 2018. 

Tanzania

DRC

Congo Brazzaville

Ghana

(US$’000s) 

Power
Non-power
Site depreciation

Total cost of sales

Year Ended 31 December

Year Ended 31 December

Year Ended 31 December

Year Ended 31 December

2018

2017

2018

2017

2018

2017 

2018

2017

29,128
23,491
54,788

35,413
27,415
55,681

39,315
17,658
50,156

42,330
20,459
48,634

107,407

118,509

107,129

111,423

2,998
5,083
11,332

19,413

2,722
6,365
11,301

20,388

10,445
3,638
7,816

21,899

13,291
4,440
7,600

25,331

Cost of sales decreased by 7% to US$255.8 million in the year ended 31 December, 2018 from US$275.7 million in the year 
ended 31 December, 2017. The overall decrease in cost of sales was primarily due to the decreased power and non-power 
costs discussed below. Site depreciation increased by 1% from US$123.2 million to US$124.1 million. Gross margin improved 
from 56% for the year ended 31 December 2017, to 63% for the year ended 31 December, 2018, due to the decreased cost of 
sales year on year.

Power costs comprise of diesel and electricity costs. The Group’s costs decreased by US$11.9 million, or 13% year on year, 
partially driven by operational improvements across the Group.

The decrease of US$11.9 million reflects US$6.3 million lower power expenses in Tanzania, US$3.0 million in DRC, and  
US$2.8 million in Ghana. Power expenses in Congo Brazzaville increased slightly from 2017.

Non-power costs relate to maintenance and security costs, insurance and other costs. Non-power costs decreased by 15% for 
the year ended 31 December, 2018 compared to the year ended 31 December, 2017. The decrease in non-power costs were 
primarily a result of Group wide operational improvements.  

Administrative expenses

(US$’000s) 

Other administrative costs
Depreciation and amortisation
Exceptional items

Total administrative expense

Year Ended 31 December

% of Revenue 

% of Revenue 

2018

48,989
17,236
24,834

91,059

2018

13.8%
4.8%
7.0%

25.6%

2017 

2017 

47,859
25,621
17,781

91,261

13.9%
7.4%
5.2%

26.5%

Administrative expenses decreased year on year, at US$91.1 million in the year ended 31 December, 2018 from US$91.3 million 
in the year ended 31 December, 2017.

Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018 37

OverviewFinancial StatementsGovernance ReportStrategic Report 
 
Detailed financial review
Continued

Administrative expenses (continued)
Exceptional items increased from US$17.8 million to US$24.8 million, which is mainly in relation to the exploration of strategic 
options for the Group including, but not limited to, a potential London Stock Exchange (“LSE”) listing. See note 4 for more 
details. This increase was offset with savings in depreciation and amortisation year on year. The decrease in amortisation for 
the year is in relation to the non-compete agreement with Airtel which had a fair value of $30 million, and was fully amortised 
between May 2016 and July 2017.  

Loss on disposal of property, plant and equipment 
Loss on disposal of property, plant and equipment was US$5.8 million in the year ended 31 December, 2018, compared to 
US$2.0 million during the year ended 31 December, 2017. Loss on disposal was primarily a result of site upgrades that 
necessitated the replacement of older parts and equipment in DRC. 

Other gains and losses 
Other gains and losses recognised in the year ended 31 December, 2018 were a loss of US$16.8 million, compared to a gain of 
US$21.8 million in the year ended 31 December, 2017. The primary reason is the decrease in the fair value of the embedded 
derivative valuation related to the bond. 

Finance costs 
Finance costs increased to US$107.0 million in the year ended 31 December, 2018 from US$102.8 million in the year ended 
31 December, 2017. The table below shows an analysis of finance costs for the years ended 31 December, 2017 and 2018. 

(US$’000s) 

Foreign exchange difference
Interest costs
Interest costs on lease liabilities
Deferred loan cost amortisation

Finance costs

Year Ended 31 December

2018

 2017 

18,029
73,856
15,120
–

3,229
71,608
14,991
12,929

107,005

102,757

As reflected in the table above, the increase in finance costs between the years was primarily the result of interest for the 
US$600 million 9.125% bond. The increase in finance costs year on year primarily relates to the foreign exchange differences, 
driven by the Tanzanian shilling. This is offset with a decrease in relation to deferred loan cost amortisation costs in the year 
ended 31 December, 2017. 

Tax expense 
Our tax expense was US$4.4 million in the year ended 31 December, 2018 as compared to US$3.2 million in the year ended 
31 December, 2017. Our tax expense during each year is primarily due to an additional tax levied against certain entities in 
Tanzania and DRC as stipulated by law in these jurisdictions. The year on year increase is driven by tax rates and Ghana 
became tax paying during the year ended 31 December, 2018. 

Adjusted EBITDA 
Adjusted EBITDA was US$177.6 million in the year ended 31 December, 2018 compared to US$146.0 million in the year ended 
31 December, 2017. The increase in Adjusted EBITDA between years is primarily attributable to the changes in revenue, cost of 
sales, and gross margin between years, as discussed above. 

38 Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018

Strategic reportContracted Revenue 
The following tables provide our total undiscounted contracted revenue by country and by key customer under agreements 
with our customers as of 31 December, 2018 for each of the years from 2019 to 2022, with local currency amounts converted 
at the applicable spot rate for US dollars on 31 December, 2018 held constant. Our contracted revenue calculation for each 
year presented assumes: (i) no escalation in fee rates, (ii) no increases in sites or tenancies other than our committed 
colocations described elsewhere in these financial statements, (iii) our customers do not utilise any cancellation allowances 
set forth in their MLAs and (iv) our customers do not terminate MLAs early for any reason. 

The following tables provide the Group’s contracted revenue from 2019 through 2022 on a country-by-country basis and an 
illustration of our total contracted revenue attributable to our key customers: 

(US$’000s) 

Tanzania 
DRC 
Congo B
Ghana 

Total

(US$’000s) 

Africa’s Big-Five MNOs
Other 

Total 

2019

2020

2021

2022

159,397
150,145
22,834
37,371

159,345
157,721
21,875
36,714

158,969
157,669
17,059
34,704

155,987
155,846
16,954
30,478

369,747

375,655

368,401

359,265

Total 
Committed 
Revenues

 2,505,980 
574,891

 3,080,871 

Percentage 
of Total 
Committed 
Revenues

81%
19%

100%

Liquidity and Capital Resources 
We manage our financing structure and cash flow requirements based on our overall strategy and objectives, deploying 
financial and other resources related to those objectives. We manage liquidity risk by maintaining adequate reserves and 
banking facilities and by continuously monitoring forecast and actual cash flows and matching the maturity profiles of 
financial assets and liabilities. Funding decisions are made based upon a number of internal and external factors, including 
required amounts and the timing of outflows, the internal and external availability of funds, the costs of financing and other 
strategic objectives.

Our primary sources of liquidity have historically been cash from operations, borrowings under our debt facilities and equity 
issuances. We have previously sought to finance the costs of developing and expanding our business mainly at the operating 
level on a country-by-country basis.

Consolidated Statement of Cash Flow Data 

(US$’000s) 

Cash Flows from Operating Activities
Loss for the year before taxation
Net cash generated from operating activities
Net cash used in investing activities
Net cash generated from financing activities
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of year
Foreign exchange on translation

Cash and cash equivalents, end of year

Year Ended 31 December 

2018

2017 

 (119,578)
60,943
 (105,069)
14,578
 (29,548) 
119,700
(1,165)

(104,227)
57,572
(169,615)
97,870
(14,173)
133,737
136

88,987

119,700

As at 31 December, 2018 we had US$89.0 million of cash and cash equivalents.

Net cash generated from operating activities increased from US$57.6 million during the year ended 31 December, 2017 to 
US$60.9 million during the year ended 31 December, 2018. The increase in net cash generated from operating activities was 
primarily driven by an improvement in operating profit, and lower cash outflows as a result of working capital changes, offset 
by an increase in exceptional costs paid between the years.

Net cash used in investing activities decreased from US$169.6 million during the year ended 31 December, 2017 to
US$105.0 million during the year ended 31 December, 2018. The decrease in net cash used in investing activities between the 
years was mainly the result of a lower volume property, plant and equipment purchasing in the year ended 31 December, 2018 
compared to the prior year. 

Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018 39

OverviewFinancial StatementsGovernance ReportStrategic Report 
Detailed financial review
Continued

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows Data (continued)
Net cash generated by financing activities decreased from US$97.9 million during the year ended 31 December, 2017 to 
US$14.6 million during the year ended 31 December, 2018. The decrease in net cash generated by financing activities between 
the years was primarily due to cash generated from the bond issuance in March 2017 

Capital expenditure
The following table shows our capital expenditures incurred by category during the years presented: 

(US$millions) 

Acquisition
Growth
Upgrade 
Maintenance
Corporate

Total

Year Ended 31 December

2018

2.2
78.1
22.3
13.0
3.4

% of Total 
Capex

1.9%
65.6%
18.7%
10.9%
2.9%

2017

18.7
77.8
52.0
19.8
2.4

% of Total 
Capex

11.0%
45.6%
30.4%
11.6%
1.4%

119.0

100.0%

170.7

100.0%

The decrease in acquisition costs in the year ended 31 December, 2018, are due to the prior year announcement of the Zantel 
acquisition in July 2017, which completed the acquisition of 101 sites and thus drove prior year expenditure. Upgrade capital 
expenditure has decreased in 2018 due to prior year investment levels which did not reocurr in 2018. Maintenance capital 
expenditure has also decreased in 2018, however we continue to carry out periodic refurbishments and replace parts and 
equipment to keep our sites in service.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements 
We do not have any off-balance sheet arrangements. 

Indebtedness 
As of 31 December, 2017 and 31 December, 2018 the Group’s outstanding loans and borrowings, excluding lease liabilities, 
were US$628.0 million and US$598.4 million, respectively. On 22 October 2018, HTA Group Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of 
the Group, signed a US$100 million term loan facility agreement at 31 December 2018, US$25.0 million was drawn. 

40 Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018

Strategic reportRisk management

Risk appetite
The Group defines risk appetite as the 
amount of risk that the business is 
prepared to take in order to deliver safe, 
effective working practices as well as 
maintaining and growing its business. 
The Group dedicates resources and 
focus to understanding and ensuring 
risk is identified, assessed, managed 
and monitored. Controls and mitigating 
actions are designed as appropriate to 
reflect the risk appetite in each instance.

Risk governance
Risk management is integral to  
the Group’s strategy and to the 
achievement of its long-term goals. 
The Group’s continued success as an 
organisation depends on its ability 
to identify and pursue the opportunities 
generated by its business and the 
markets in which it operates. 

The Board has overall responsibility for 
risk management, compliance and 
internal controls, and is supported by 
the Audit and Ethics Committee 
(the “Committee”). 

The Committee, under delegation from 
the Board, monitors the nature and 
extent of risk exposure against the 
Group’s risk appetite. The Committee is 
responsible for identifying, mitigating 
and managing risk, as well as setting the 
risk appetite for the business with 
advice from the executive team. 

Governance framework

Board/Audit and Ethics Committee

Executive team

1st line of defence
Owns and manages risks and
implements/operates business controls

2nd line of defence
Oversight of risk and control compliance

3rd line of defence
Independent assurance

Who is responsible
• Operational staff/management 

Who is responsible
• Compliance/functional teams

Who is responsible
• Internal Audit

Activity/controls
• Policies and procedures
• Internal controls
• Planning, budgeting/forecasting processes
• Delegation of authority matrix
• Business workflows/IT systems controls
• Personal objectives and incentives

Activity/controls
• SHEQ
• Regulatory compliance
• Management/Board reporting and review

of KPIs and financial performance

• Corporate policies and Group

functions oversight

Activity/controls
• Internal Audit risk assessment
• Approved Internal Audit plan
• Internal Audit reporting line to Audit

and Ethics Committee

Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018 41

Financial StatementsGovernance ReportStrategic ReportOverviewRisks related to the Group and our business

Principal business risks
Summarised below are the key risks, not in order of 
significance, identified which could have a material impact 
on the Group. The principal risk summaries are therefore 
supported by a more detailed risk management process.

Risk status

Risk description

Impacts

Risk mitigation

No 
change

No 
change

1. Major quality failure or breach of contract
The Group’s reputation and profitability could be 
damaged if the Group fails to meet its customers’ 
operational specifications, quality standards or 
delivery schedules.

A substantial portion of Group revenues is 
generated from a limited number of large 
customers. The loss of any of these customers 
would materially affect the Group’s finances and 
growth prospects.

Many of the Group’s customer tower contracts 
contain liquidated damage provisions, which may 
require the Group to make unanticipated and 
potentially significant payments to its customers.

2. Non compliance with various laws and 
regulations such as:
i)  Health, safety and environmental laws
ii)  Anti-bribery and corruption provisions
Non-compliance with applicable laws and 
regulations may lead to substantial fines and 
penalties, reputational damage and adverse 
effects on future growth prospects.

Sudden and frequent changes in laws and 
regulations, their interpretation or application 
and enforcement, both locally and internationally, 
may require the Group to modify its existing 
business practices, incur increased costs and 
subject it to potential additional liabilities.

Reputational 

• Continued skills development and training 

Financial

programmes for the project and operational 
delivery team;

• Detailed and defined project scoping and life 

cycle management through project delivery and 
transfer to ongoing operations;

• Contract and dispute management processes in 

place;

• Continuous monitoring and management of 

customer relationships;

• Use of long-term contracting with minimal 

termination rights.

Compliance 

• Constant monitoring of potential changes to laws 

Financial 

Reputational

and regulatory requirements;

• In-person training on Health, Safety and 

Environmental matters provided to employees 
and relevant third party contractors;

• Enhanced compliance and related policies 

implemented in 2018 including specific details 
covering: Anti-Bribery and Corruption, 
Facilitation of Tax Evasion, Anti-Money 
Laundering;

• Compliance monitoring activities and periodic 

reporting requirements introduced;

• Ongoing engagement with external lawyers  

and consultants and regulatory authorities, as 
necessary, to identify and assess changes in the 
regulatory environment;

• New Third Party Code of Conduct introduced 

and communicated;

• Launch of Third Party Monitoring reviews.

No 
Change

No 
change

3. Economic and political instability
A slowdown in the growth of, or a reduction in 
demand for, wireless communication services 
could adversely affect the demand for 
communication sites and tower space and could 
have a material adverse effect on the Group’s 
financial condition and results of operations.

There are significant risks related to political 
instability, security, ethnic, religious and regional 
tensions in each geography where the Group has 
operations.

4. Significant exchange rate movements
Fluctuations in or devaluations of local market 
currencies where the Group operates could have 
a significant and negative financial impact on the 
Group’s business, financial condition and results. 
Such impacts may also result from any adverse 
effects such movements have on Group third 
party customers and strategic suppliers. 

Operational

• Ongoing market analysis and business 

Financial

intelligence gathering activities;

• Market share growth strategy in place;

• Close monitoring of any potential risks that may 

affect operations;

• Business continuity and contingency plans in 
place to respond to any emergency situations.

Financial

• USD and EUR pegged contracts;

• “Natural” hedge of local currencies (revenue vs. 

opex);

• Monthly review of exchange rate differences.

42 Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018

Strategic reportRisk status

Risk description

Impacts

Risk mitigation

No 
change

No 
change

No 
change

5. Non-compliance with licence requirements
The Group may not always operate with the 
necessary required approvals and licences for 
some of its tower sites, particularly in the case of 
existing tower portfolios acquired from a third 
party. Vagueness, uncertainty and changes in 
interpretation of regulatory requirements are 
frequent and often without warning. As a  
result, the Group may be subject to potential 
reprimands, warnings, fines and penalties for 
non-compliance with the relevant licensing and 
approval requirements.

6. Loss of key personnel
The Group’s successful operational activities  
and growth is closely linked to the knowledge 
and experience of key members of senior 
management and highly skilled technical 
employees. The loss of any such personnel, or  
the failure to attract, recruit and retain equally 
high calibre professionals, could adversely affect 
the Group’s operations, financial condition and 
strategic growth prospects.

7. Technology risk
Advances in technology that enhance the 
efficiency of wireless networks and potential 
active sharing of wireless spectrum may 
significantly reduce or negate the need for  
tower-based infrastructure or services. This  
could reduce the need for telecommunications 
operators to add more tower-based antenna 
equipment at certain tower sites, leading to a 
potential decline in tenants, service needs  
and decreasing revenue streams.

Examples of such new technologies may include 
spectrally efficient technologies which could 
potentially relieve certain network capacity 
problems or complementary voice over internet 
protocol access technologies that could be used 
to offload a portion of subscriber traffic away 
from the traditional tower-based networks.

No 
change

8. Failure to remain competitive
Competition in, or consolidation of, the 
telecommunications tower industry may create 
pricing pressures that materially and adversely 
affect the Group.

Operational

• Inventory of required licences and permits 
maintained for each operating company;

• Compliance registers maintained with any 

potential non-conformities identified by relevant 
government authority with a timetable for 
rectification;

• Periodic engagement with external lawyers and 
advisors and participation in industry groups;

• Active and ongoing engagement with relevant 
regulatory authorities to proactively identify, 
assess and manage actual and potential 
regulation changes.

People

• Talent identification and succession planning 

exist for key roles;

• Competitive benchmarked performance-related 

remuneration plans;

• Staff development/support plans.

Strategic

• Strategic long-term planning;

• Business intelligence;

• Exploring alternatives e.g. solar power 

technologies;

• Continuously improving product offering to 

enable adaptation to new wireless technologies;

• Applying for new licences to provision active 

infrastructure services in certain markets.

Financial

• Key Performance Indicator (“KPI”) monitoring 

and benchmarking against competitors;

• Total cost of ownership (“TCO”) analysis for 

MNOs to run towers;

• Fair pricing structure;

• Business intelligence and review of competitors’ 

activities;

• Strong tendering team to ensure high win/

retention rate;

• Continuous capex investment ensures that the 

Group has sufficient capacity.

New

9. Failure to integrate new lines of business in 
new markets
Multiple risks exist with entry into new markets 
and new lines of business. Failure to successfully 
manage and integrate operations, resources and 
technology could have material adverse 
implications for the Group’s overall growth 
strategy and negatively impact its financial 
position and organisation culture.  

Strategic

Financial

Operational

• Pre-acquisition due diligence conducted with the 

assistance of external advisors with specific 
geographic and industry expertise;

• Ongoing monitoring activities post-acquisition/

agreement;

• Detailed management, operations and 

technology integration plan;

• Ongoing measurement of performance vs. plan 

and Group strategic objectives.

Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018 43

OverviewFinancial StatementsGovernance ReportStrategic ReportBoard of Directors

The Company’s Board of Directors (the “Board of 
Directors”) consists of 13 members.

The shareholders shall have the right to remove any of  
their respective Directors appointed pursuant to our 
shareholders’ agreement, with or without cause, by written 
notice to the Company. The duties and authority of each 
member of the Board of Directors are regulated by our 
Articles of Association and shareholders’ agreement. 

The Board of Directors is currently comprised of the 
following Directors:

Name

Kash Pandya

Anja Blumert

Vishma Boyjonauth

Richard Byrne

Joshua Ho-Walker

Temitope Lawani

Nelson Oliveira

Umberto Pisoni

Simon Pitcher

Simon Poole

Carlos Reyes

Xavier Rocoplan

David Wassong

Age

56

41

39

61

34

48

56

53

46

52

47

44

48

Position

Director & Chief 
Executive Officer
Non-Executive 
Director
Non-Executive 
Director
Non-Executive 
Director
Non-Executive 
Director
Non-Executive 
Director
Non-Executive 
Director
Non-Executive 
Director
Non-Executive 
Director
Non-Executive 
Director
Non-Executive 
Director
Non-Executive 
Director
Non-Executive 
Director

The business address of each of the members of the Board 
of Directors is Level 3, Alexander House, 35 Cybercity, 
Ebene, Mauritius. 

The Board of Directors has strategic control and decision-
making authority over the business of the Group.

44 Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018

Kash Pandya has been a Director of the Company since 
August 2015. Kash arrived as Chief Executive Officer of 
Helios Towers following eight years with Aggreko plc, where 
he sat on the Board, running the European Business for 
three years. He was also Managing Director of Aggreko 
International for five years, overseeing a doubling of their 
international business. 

He began his career with an engineering apprenticeship,  
and went on to complete a Bachelor’s degree in Technology 
Engineering and a Master’s in Manufacturing. In 1989, he 
started at Jaguar before moving to roles within General 
Electric, Caradon and then APW, where he led all operations 
outside the United States. In 2004, he became the CEO  
of Johnston Group, leaving the business on its sale to 
Ennstone plc. 

Anja Blumert has been a Director of the Company since 
October 2015. Ms. Blumert has been head of M&A at 
Millicom International Cellular SA (“Millicom”) since 2013. 
From 2009 to 2013, Ms. Blumert was an Independent 
Strategy and M&A Consultant at Montagu Partners. 
Prior to this, she was an Investment Professional at 
Warburg Pincus International covering the Central and 
Eastern Europe region across all sectors and Western 
Europe for the TMT sector where she was responsible 
for the assessment of investment opportunities in private 
and public companies. Ms. Blumert holds a degree 
in Finance and Marketing and a Master’s degree in 
Business Studies from Humboldt University of Berlin. 

Vishma Boyjonauth has been a Director of the Company 
since August 2013. Ms. Boyjonauth joined Intercontinental 
Trust Limited in 2004 and she is currently a Manager in 
the Corporate Services Department. She leads a team 
in the Corporate Services Department and oversees 
operations including the incorporation of companies, 
advising on company structures, regulatory matters 
and the corporate administration of companies for 
both domestic and global business companies in 
Mauritius. Ms. Boyjonauth graduated from the University 
of Mauritius with a BSc (Hons) in Economics. 

Richard Byrne has been a Director of the Company 
since December 2010. Mr. Byrne co-founded TowerCo 
in 2004 and served as President and Chief Executive 
Officer and a member of the Board of Directors from its 
beginning until his retirement in December 2018. Prior 
to that, he served as President of the Tower Division of 
SpectraSite Communications, which grew from 125 towers 
to more than 8,000 during his tenure. Mr. Byrne served 
as National Director of Business Development at Nextel 
Communications Inc. and was responsible for bringing 

Governance ReportUmberto Pisoni has been a Director of the Company 
since July 2018. Mr. Pisoni has been global portfolio 
head of the TMT group at IFC since 2015. Previously, 
Mr. Pisoni was the global portfolio head of the private 
equity group at IFC, an investment officer in the TMT 
group, and also worked in the M&A department at 
Cookson Group Plc. Umberto holds a BS in Financial 
and Monetary Economics from Bocconi University and 
an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Simon David Pitcher has been a Director of the Company 
since December 2013. Mr. Pitcher is responsible for Private 
Investments at J. Rothschild Capital Management Limited 
(“JRCM”). JRCM is the principal subsidiary of RIT Capital 
Partners plc. Previously, Mr. Pitcher was a Director at 
Standard Bank Private Equity, a Director at Blackwood 
Capital Partners in Sydney and an Investment Director  
at Hermes Private Equity. He qualified as a Chartered 
Accountant with PricewaterhouseCoopers. 

Simon Poole has been a Director of the Company since 
February 2012. From 2009 to 2011, Mr. Poole acted as Group 
CFO for Intela Global Ltd where his responsibilities included 
managing investor relations and the development of group 
strategy. Prior to this, Mr. Poole held various roles at Celtel 
including as Interim Group Financial Controller of Celtel 
International, Chief Financial Officer of Celtel DRC and 
Finance Director of Celtel Burkina Faso. Mr. Poole holds a BSc 
in Geography from Exeter University and is a qualified 
Chartered Accountant. 

the industry’s first major portfolio of wireless carrier 
towers to market. Mr. Byrne started his wireless career 
performing site acquisitions for AT&T Wireless (then McCaw 
Cellular) in the New York Metropolitan Trading Area. 

Joshua Ho-Walker has been a Director of the Company 
since January 2019. Mr. Ho-Walker is a Principal at 
Strategic Capital Investment Partners, LP, which was 
formed in October 2018 from the spin-out of the Strategic 
Investments Group from Soros Fund Management LLC. 
Mr. Ho-Walker joined Soros in August 2008 and previously 
worked at Merrill Lynch. He graduated magna cum laude 
from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New 
York University with a B.S. in Finance and Economics.

Temitope Lawani has been a Director of the Company 
since February 2010. Mr. Lawani, a Nigerian national, is a 
co-founder and Managing Partner of Helios Investment 
Partners and has more than 20 years of principal 
investment experience. Prior to forming Helios, Mr. Lawani 
was a Principal in the San Francisco and London offices 
of TPG Capital, a global private equity firm. At TPG, 
Mr. Lawani had a lead role in the execution of over $10 
billion in closed venture capital and leveraged buy-out 
investments, including the acquisitions of Burger King 
Corp., Debenhams plc, J. Crew Group and Scottish & 
Newcastle Retail. Mr. Lawani began his career as a Mergers 
& Acquisitions and Corporate Development Analyst at 
the Walt Disney Company. Mr. Lawani received a BS in 
Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of 
Technology, a Juris Doctorate (cum laude) from Harvard 
Law School and an MBA from Harvard Business School. 
He is fluent in Yoruba, a West African language. 

Nelson Oliveira has been a Director of the Company 
since May 2016. Mr. Oliveira has been Managing Director, 
General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer at 
Albright Capital Management LLC (“Albright”) since 
March 2007. During this time, he has been responsible 
for legal and regulatory aspects of Albright’s operations 
as a registered investment adviser with broad emerging 
markets mandates, including legal structuring and risk 
management of all private investment transactions and all 
regulatory aspects of fundraising. Prior to this, Mr. Oliveira 
was Deputy General Counsel at Darby Overseas, Ltd. 
(a subsidiary of Franklin Resources, Inc.) from March 
2002 until March 2007, where he was responsible for 
overseeing and advising on legal aspects of mezzanine 
debt and quasi-equity investment transactions in Latin 
America, Asia and Eastern Europe. Mr. Oliveira holds a Juris 
Doctorate (cum laude) from Boston College Law School.

Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018 45

Financial StatementsGovernance ReportStrategic ReportOverviewDavid Wassong has been a Director of the Company since 
January 2010. Mr. Wassong is the Co-Head of Strategic 
Capital Investment Partners, LP which commenced 
operations on 1 October 2018 when it spun out from Soros 
Fund Management, LLC. Prior to the spin-out, Mr. Wassong 
was a Co-Head of the Strategic Investments Group at 
SFM since 2005 and was responsible for overseeing SIG’s 
investments in private equity, real estate, infrastructure, 
growth equity, venture capital, and private equity and 
venture capital funds. He and his team currently manage 
a global portfolio of direct private equity investments. 
Prior to joining Soros Private Equity, Mr. Wassong was 
Vice President at Lauder Gaspar Ventures, LLC. He started 
his career in finance as an analyst and then an associate 
in the investment banking group of Schroder Wertheim 
& Co., Inc. Mr. Wassong received an MBA from the 
Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and his 
bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

Board of Directors

Continued

Carlos Reyes has been a Director of the Company since 
May 2018. Mr. Reyes has been Principal, IFC African, Latin 
American & Caribbean Fund (“ALAC”) since 2011, and is 
now the Head of Africa Funds. Prior to joining AMC in 2011, 
Carlos held several senior roles at BP including Strategy 
Advisor CEO’s Office and Director E&P for the M&A Group. 
He has previously worked as an analyst at the World 
Bank and also served as a consultant to several energy 
multinationals in Spain. He is also a member of the ALAC 
Fund and IFC China Mexico Fund investment committees at 
IFC Asset Management Company. Mr. Reyes holds a BA in 
Economics from the University of Barcelona, an MBA from 
the Yale University School of Management, and an MA in 
International Public Policy from George Mason University.

Xavier Rocoplan has been a Director of the Company since 
October 2015. Mr. Rocoplan has been the Chief Technology 
and Information Officer (“CTO”) at Millicom since 
December 2012 and has been its Executive Vice President 
of Technical since April 2012. In 2002, Mr. Rocoplan was 
CTO for Vietnam and then became CTO for the South East 
Asian cluster (Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam). In 2004 he 
was appointed the CEO of Paktel in Pakistan, a position 
he held until 2007. During this time, he launched Paktel’s 
GSM operations and led the process that concluded with 
the disposal of the business in 2007. After Millicom’s 
exit from Asia, Mr. Rocoplan was appointed to head the 
New Corporate Business development unit where he 
managed the Tower Assets Monetisation programme 
which led to the creation of tower companies in Ghana, 
Tanzania, DRC and Colombia. In 2012, he was made 
Chief Global Networks Officer before being appointed 
Millicom’s CTO. Mr. Rocoplan holds Master’s degrees from 
Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications 
de Paris and from Université Paris IX Dauphine.

46 Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018

Governance ReportHelios Towers | Annual Report 2018 47

Governance ReportOverviewFinancial StatementsStrategic ReportExecutive team

+100 years’ 
experience

in emerging markets towers and power 

We have assembled a world-class 
management team to ensure that Helios 
Towers is, and remains, a formidable 
and customer-centric organisation.

The team also retains unrivalled 
relationships with key local 
constituencies and major wireless 
operators across the continent.

The team combines market-leading,  
Six Sigma-accredited operational 
expertise with African telecom network 
rollout capabilities and global tower 
management experience. Indeed, 
collectively, we offer more than 100 
years’ experience of towers and power 
in emerging markets. 

Kash Pandya
Chief Executive Officer

Joined 2015

Kash arrived as Chief Executive Officer 
of Helios Towers following eight years 
with Aggreko plc, where he sat on the 
Board, running the European Business 
for three years. He was also Managing 
Director of Aggreko International 
for five years, overseeing a doubling 
of their international business. 

He began his career with an engineering 
apprenticeship, and went on to complete 
a Bachelor’s degree in Technology 
Engineering and a Master’s in Manufacturing. 

In 1989, he started at Jaguar before 
moving to roles within General Electric, 
Caradon and then APW, where he led all 
operations outside the United States.

In 2004, he became the CEO of 
Johnston Group, leaving the business 
on its sale to Ennstone plc.

Tom Greenwood
Chief Financial Officer 

Alex Leigh
Chief Commercial Officer 

Colin Gaston
Director of Special Projects 

Joined 2010

Joined 2012

Joined 2015

Tom was appointed Chief Financial Officer 
in September 2015, having previously been 
Helios Towers’ Group Finance Director. He 
has been instrumental in managing and 
raising debt and equity for the Group, as 
well as being a key member of the team 
for all acquisitions and country set-ups.

He is responsible for all finance and IT 
activities across the Group, and has 
led the set-up of all financial systems, 
operations and shared service centre. 

He joined Helios Towers from PwC, where 
he was part of the TMT Transaction 
Services team, focusing on M&A and re-
financings, mainly in the telecoms sector.

Tom is a Chartered Accountant of the 
ICAEW (ACA).

Alex was appointed to the executive team 
of Helios Towers in October 2015, and 
is responsible for commercial, business 
development and sales activity. 

Prior to joining the executive team, he 
served as Business Development Director 
covering M&A, equity raises and business 
development. Alex has negotiated many 
of HT’s major customer agreements 
and has been a key team member in the 
capital raising activities of the Group.

Before joining Helios Towers, Alex worked at 
both UBS and Rothschild, primarily advising 
TMT companies in an M&A capacity. 
He has been involved in over 20 M&A 
transactions and eight leveraged finance 
deals, and has provided strategic advice 
to large TMT companies across Europe.

Colin has been a Director in Helios 
Towers since joining in 2015.

Previously, he held several senior 
positions at Aggreko from 2000 to 
2013, including Operations Director for 
the International Business, Regional 
Director for West and Central Africa, and 
Head of Logistics. He then worked as an 
independent consultant in Dubai for two 
years before joining Helios Towers. 

Colin also has 20 years of international 
experience in senior management 
roles with Schlumberger, and is an 
accredited Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.

48 Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018

Governance Report 
Roy Cursley
Director of Delivery and Technology

Helen Ebert
Chief Legal Officer

Philippe Loridon 
CEO Helios Towers Tanzania

Joined 2015

Joined 2018

Joined 2010

Roy has been at Director of Delivery and 
Technology at Helios Towers since February 
2019 and has been a member of the 
Executive Management team since 2015. 

Prior to Helios Towers, Roy was Head 
of Projects, Planning & Continuous 
Improvement at Aggreko International. 
He was responsible for the execution of 
temporary power projects internationally, 
primarily in emerging markets. 

He has a wealth of experience in both South 
Africa and the East Africa region, and is 
an accredited Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.

Helen brings a wealth of experience to 
the role of Chief Legal Officer at Helios 
Towers. She was previously General 
Counsel at Exterion Media (formerly CBS 
outdoor) and held senior roles at World 
Fuel Services, and the Vista Group. 

She also has extensive experience of working 
for international law firms in London and 
Singapore, including Freshfields Bruckhaus 
Deringer, Slaughter and May, and Linklaters.

Helen has significant international 
M&A, general commercial and 
compliance experience in EMEA, Asia-
Pacific, USA, Russia and Egypt. 

She is qualified as a solicitor in England 
and Wales and has a law degree 
from Cambridge University.

Philippe Loridon has been CEO of Helios 
Towers Tanzania (“HTT”) since January 2015 
and joined HTT from Helios Towers DRC, 
where he had been Chief Executive Officer 
since December 2011. He previously served 
as Chief Executive Officer at Equateur 
Telecom Congo, where he re-launched 
ETC in the Republic of Congo. Prior to this, 
Philippe accumulated 20 years’ experience 
in the telecoms industry with MNOs based 
in San Marino, Israel and Papua New 
Guinea. This included 13 years at Hutchison 
Whampoa, fulfilling senior roles in sales, 
marketing and business development 
before first becoming CEO of Hutchison Sri 
Lanka in 1998, and then Head of Hutchison 
Telecommunications’ Latin American 
operations between 2000 and 2002.

Léon-Paul Manya Okitanyenda
CEO Helios Towers DRC  

Nick Summers
Director of Sustainability and 
Organisational Development

Jeffrey Schumacher
CEO Helios Towers Ghana, Congo 
Brazzaville & South Africa

Joined 2011

Joined 2010

Joined 2011

Léon-Paul has been Chief Executive 
Officer of Helios Towers DRC since January 
2015, having previously been Network 
Operations Director since February 2011. 

He has over 15 years of experience in the 
telecommunications industry. Prior to 
joining the Company, Léon-Paul worked 
as a Contract Execution Manager at 
Ericsson; Country Field Manager for MER 
Telecom; Operations Manager for Venture; 
and as Logistics Manager at Plessey. 
He is from DRC and holds a Master’s 
degree in Economics and Mathematics.

Nick has been Director of Sustainability 
and Organisational Development at Helios 
Towers since January 2019 and has been a 
member of the executive management team 
since 2015. He joined Helios Towers in 2010 
following nine years with Vodafone, both in 
the United Kingdom and internationally. 

His final role at Vodafone was 
National Head of RAN Deployment 
for Vodafone Ghana (previously the 
state-owned Ghana Telecom). 

At Helios Towers, Nick has oversight of the 
implementation of the Group’s sustainability 
strategy and is responsible for Group 
human resources; Group health; safety, 
environmental and quality management; 
and Group ethics and compliance. 

Jeffrey has been CEO of Helios Towers 
Ghana and Helios Towers Congo 
Brazzaville since 2015 and 2016, 
respectively. He was also appointed CEO 
of Helios Towers South Africa in 2019.

He has held various senior positions 
during the set-up, launch and growth 
phases at subsidiaries in Tanzania, DRC 
and Chad, where he was Managing 
Director. Prior to Helios Towers, Jeffrey 
was an investment professional at 
Soros Fund Management LLC, where 
he had been actively involved with the 
Company since its formation in 2009. 

He holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering 
(magna cum laude) from Northwestern 
University in the United States.

Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018 49

Financial StatementsGovernance ReportStrategic ReportOverviewBoard committees

Corporate governance
Our corporate governance framework provides for checks 
and balances while allowing our management flexibility for 
prompt decision-making in the ordinary course of business. 
The Directors have implemented a corporate governance 
framework that they consider appropriate for the size and 
current ownership structure of the Group.

Remuneration Committee
The members of the Remuneration Committee are appointed 
by, and act at the discretion of, the Board of Directors. The 
Remuneration Committee consists of a minimum of three 
members. The current members of the Remuneration 
Committee are Richard Byrne, David Wassong and Nelson 
Oliveira, who is chairman of the committee. 

The Remuneration Committee meets on a quarterly basis. 
The Remuneration Committee is responsible for approving 
key performance indicators for our business and evaluating 
senior executives’ compensation plans, policies and 
programmes. Some of the specific duties of the 
Remuneration Committee include the following: 

•  to annually review and approve annual base salaries for 

employees of each member of the Group;

•  to make recommendations with respect to incentive 

compensation plans; and 

•  to make regular reports to the Board of Directors on the 

status of outstanding compensation issues.

Budget Committee
The members of the Budget Committee are appointed by, 
and act at the discretion of, the Board of Directors. The 
Budget Committee consists of a minimum of three members. 
The current members of the Budget Committee are Kash 
Pandya, David Wassong and Simon Poole, who is chairman of 
the committee. The Budget Committee meets on a quarterly 
basis. Some of the specific duties of the Budget Committee 
include the following: 

•  to work with the Group management teams on the annual 

Internal Budget Review and stress test detailed 
assumptions, projections and expectations to ensure that 
management’s expectations are reasonable and 
achievable; and 

•  to report to the Board of Directors on the process and 

recommend approval of the annual Budget, highlighting 
key risks and opportunities considered.

Audit and Ethics Committee
The Audit and Ethics Committee is appointed by the Board 
of Directors and consists of a minimum of three members. 
The current members of the Audit and Ethics Committee 
are Nelson Oliveira, Simon Poole, Mohsin Sohani and 
Simon Pitcher, who is chairman of the committee. The 
Audit and Ethics Committee meets on a quarterly basis 
and holds a meeting with the external auditor at least once 
a year without the presence of any executive member. 

The role of the Audit and Ethics Committee is to: (i) be 
responsible to the Board of Directors for the oversight of 
financial accounting and reporting, internal controls, risk 
assessment and management, and ethics and compliance, 
including the integrity of the Group’s procurement 
process; (ii) be directly responsible for the appointment, 
compensation and oversight of the independent auditor, 
including the resolution of any disagreements with 
management; and (iii) endeavour to work with management 
and the independent auditor in a spirit of mutual respect 
and cooperation. Some of the specific duties of the 
Audit and Ethics Committee include the following: 

•  to oversee systems, processes, internal controls and 

procedures, and compliance with the ethical standards 
adopted by the Group; 

•  to oversee the independent auditor’s qualifications, 

independence and performance; and 

•  to assess compliance with the Group’s procurement policy.

50 Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018

Governance ReportConflicts of interest 
Except as disclosed in these financial statements, there are 
no potential conflicts of interest between any duties of the 
members of the Group’s administrative, management or 
supervisory bodies to the Group and their private interests 
and/or other duties.

Principal shareholders
The following table sets forth certain information, as of 
31 December, 2018, with respect to the ownership of the 
Company’s shares by each person who, according to the 
Company’s Shareholders Register, owned more than 5% of 
the Company’s shares:

Shareholder

Millicom Holding, B.V.
Quantum Strategic Partners, Ltd. 
Lath Holdings, Ltd
ACM Africa Holdings, LP
RIT Capital Partners Plc
IFC African Latin American Caribbean Fund, LP

Percentage 
directly held

22.83%
21.80%
16.43%
11.61%
7.18%
6.11%

The remaining 14.04% of the Company is owned by minority 
shareholders, none of which owns more than 5% of the 
Company’s shares. 

The Company’s leading shareholders are financial investors 
who invested in the Company in 2009, except for Millicom, 
who invested in the Group in 2010. 

Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018 51

Financial StatementsGovernance ReportStrategic ReportOverviewGlossary

We have prepared the Annual Report using a number of 
conventions, which you should consider when reading 
information contained herein as follows: 

All references to “we”, “us”, “our”, “HT Group”, our “Group” 
and the “Group” are references to Helios Towers, Ltd 
(the “Company”) and its subsidiaries taken as a whole. 

“colocation” means the sharing of tower space by multiple 
customers or technologies on the same tower, equal to 
the sum of standard colocation tenants and amendment 
colocation tenants.

“colocation tenant” means each additional tenant on a tower 
in addition to the primary anchor tenant. 

“3G” means the third generation cellular telecommunications 
networks that allow simultaneous use of voice and data 
services, and provide high-speed data access using a range 
of technologies.

“4G” or “4G LTE” means the fourth generation cellular 
telecommunications networks that allow simultaneous use of 
voice and data services, and provide high-speed data access 
using a range of technologies (these speeds exceed those 
available for 3G).

“Adjusted EBITDA” as loss for the period, adjusted 
for loss for the period from discontinued operations, 
additional tax, income tax, finance costs, other gains and 
losses, investment income, loss on disposal of property, 
plant and equipment, amortisation and impairment 
of intangible assets, depreciation and impairment of 
property, plant and equipment, deal costs relating to 
unsuccessful tower acquisition transactions or successful 
tower acquisition transactions that cannot be capitalised, 
and exceptional items. Exceptional items are material 
items that are considered exceptional in nature by 
management by virtue of their size and/or incidence.

“Adjusted EBITDA margin” as Adjusted EBITDA divided  
by revenue.

“Airtel” means Bharti Airtel International.

“amendment colocation tenant” means an existing 
customer on a site (anchor tenant or standard colocation 
tenant) adding or modifying equipment, taking up 
additional vertical space, wind load capacity and/or power 
consumption, which leads to additional revenue billing 
under the menu pricing of an existing MLA agreement. 
The Group calculates amendment colocations using the 
additional revenue generated by the amendment on a 
weighted basis as compared to the market average rate for 
a standard tenancy in the month the amendment is added.

“anchor tenant” means the primary customer occupying 
each tower. 

“average remaining life” of certain agreements means the 
average of the periods through the expiration of the term 
under all such agreements. 

“Company” means Helios Towers, Ltd. 

“Congo Brazzaville” means the Republic of Congo, 
Congo Brazzaville or Congo.

“contracted revenue” means revenue contracted under 
our site agreements under all total tenancies, assuming no 
escalation of maintenance fees and no renewal upon the 
expiration of the current term. 

“corporate capital expenditure” is primarily for furniture, 
fixtures and equipment.

“DRC” means Democratic Republic of Congo. 

“EUR” or “€” means the currency introduced at the start of 
the third stage of the European Economic and Monetary 
Union pursuant to Article 123 of the treaty establishing the 
European Community, as amended. 

“G7 countries” means each of the United States, Canada, 
France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom. 

“Ghana” means the Republic of Ghana. 

“gross debt” as our total borrowings (non-current loans and 
current loans) excluding unamortised loan issue costs.

“gross margin” means gross profit, adding site and 
warehouse depreciation, divided by revenue. 

“growth capital expenditure” comprises structural, 
refurbishment and consolidation activities carried out on 
selected acquired sites.

“GSM” means Global System for Mobile Communication, a 
standard for digital mobile communications. 

“Guarantors” means the Company, HT Holdings, Ltd., HT 
Congo Brazzaville Holdco Limited, Helios Towers DRC 
S.A.R.L., Helios Towers Tanzania Limited, Helios Towers 
Congo Brazzaville SASU, HT DRC Infraco S.A.R.L., HTT 
Infraco Limited, Towers NL Coöperatief U.A., McTam 
International 1 B.V., Helios Towers Ghana Limited, HTG 
Managed Services Limited and McRory Investment B.V. 

“Helios Towers DRC” means Helios Towers DRC S.A.R.L. 

“Helios Towers Ghana” means Helios Towers Ghana Limited.

“build-to-suit/BTS” means sites constructed by our Group on 
order by an MNO. 

“Helios Towers South Africa” means Helios Towers South 
Africa Limited. 

“CAGR” means compound annual growth rate. 

“capital expenditures” means the additions of property, plant 
and equipment.

“CODM” means Chief Operating Decision Maker.

“Helios Towers Tanzania” means Helios Towers Tanzania 
Limited. 

“HT Congo Brazzaville” means HT Congo Brazzaville Holdco 
Limited. 

“IBS” means in-building cellular enhancement. 

“IFRS” means International Financial Reporting Standards. 

“ISA” means individual site agreement.

52 Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018

Governance Report“telecommunications operator” means a company licensed 
by the government to provide voice and data communications 
services in the countries in which we operate. 

“tenancy” means a space leased for installation of a base 
transmission site and associated antennaes. 

“tenancy ratio” means the total number of tenancies divided 
by the total number of our towers as of a given date and 
represents the average number of tenants per site within  
a portfolio. 

“Tigo” refers to one or more subsidiaries of Millicom that 
operate under the commercial brand “Tigo”. 

“total colocations” means total colocation tenants.

“total sites” means total live towers, IBS sites or sites with 
customer equipment installed on third-party infrastructure 
that are owned and/or managed by the Company with each 
reported site having at least one active customer tenancy as 
of a given date. 

“total tenancies” means the individual tower occupancies by 
each customer as of a given date. 

“tower sites” means ground-based towers and rooftop 
towers and installations constructed and owned by us on real 
property (including a rooftop) that is generally owned or 
leased by us. 

“upgrade capital expenditure” relates to (i) installation of 
colocation tenants and (ii) investments in power 
management solutions.

“US dollars” or “$” refers to the lawful currency of the United 
States of America. 

“United States” or “US” means the United States of America.

“Vodacom” means Vodacom Group Limited. 

“Vodacom Tanzania” means Vodacom Tanzania Ltd. 

“Zantel” means Zanzibar Telecom PLC.

“LTE” means Long-Term Evolution, designed to increase the 
capacity and speed of mobile telephone networks according 
to the standard developed by the 3GPP consortium, 
frequently referred to as “4G” or “4th generation”. Some of 
the key assumptions of the system are: (i) data transmission 
at speeds faster than 3G; (ii) ready for new service types; (iii) 
architecture simplified in comparison to 3G; and (iv) 
provisions for open interfaces. 

“maintenance capital expenditures” as capital expenditures 
for periodic refurbishments and replacement of parts and 
equipment to keep existing sites in service. 

“maintained sites” refers to sites that are maintained by 
the Company on behalf of a telecommunications operator 
but which are not marketed by the Company to other 
telecommunications operators for colocation (and in 
respect of which the Company has no right to market). 

“managed sites” refers to sites that the Company currently 
manages but does not own due to either: (i) certain 
conditions for transfer under the relevant acquisition 
documentation, ground lease and/or law not yet being 
satisfied; or (ii) the site being subject to an agreement with 
the relevant MNO under which the MNO retains ownership 
and outsources management and marketing to the Company. 

“Mauritius” means the Republic of Mauritius. 

“Millicom” means Millicom International Cellular SA. 

“mobile penetration” means the measure of the amount of 
active mobile phone subscriptions compared to the total 
market for active mobile phones. 

“MLA” means master lease agreement.

“MNO” means mobile network operator. 

“MTN” means MTN Group Ltd. 

“near investment grade” means one notch below investment 
grade. 

“net debt” means gross debt less cash and cash equivalents.

“Orange” means Orange S.A. 

“PoS” means point of service.

“SHEQ” means Safety, Health, Environment and Quality. 

“site acquisition” means a combination of MLAs, which 
provide the commercial terms governing the provision of tower 
space, and individual ISA, which act as an appendix to the 
relevant MLA, and include site-specific terms for each site. 

“site agreement” means the MLA and ISA executed by us 
with our customers, which act as an appendix to the relevant 
MLA and includes certain site-specific information (for 
example, location and any grandfathered equipment). 

“SLA” means service-level agreement. 

“standard colocation tenant” means a customer occupying 
tower space under a standard tenancy lease rate and 
configuration with defined limits in terms of the vertical 
space occupied, the wind load and power consumption.

“Tanzania” means the United Republic of Tanzania. 

Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018 53

Financial StatementsGovernance ReportStrategic ReportOverviewDirectors’ report

The Directors present their report and 
audited financial statements for the year 
ended 31 December 2018. 

Principal activity and review 
The principal activity of the Group during the year was  
the building and maintaining of telecommunications  
towers to provide space on those towers to wireless 
telecommunications service and associated service  
providers in Africa. 

Dividends 
During the financial year ended 31 December 2018, the 
Directors did not recommend the payment of a dividend 
(2017: US$ nil). The Directors who are members of the 
Board at the time of approving the Directors’ report and 
Operating and Financial Review are listed on page 44. 

Auditor 
So far as each Director is aware, there is no relevant 
information of which the Group’s external auditor is unaware. 
Each Director has taken all steps that ought to have been 
taken as a Director in order to be aware of any relevant  
audit information and to establish that Deloitte Mauritius is 
aware of that information.

Deloitte Mauritius has indicated its willingness to continue in 
office and will be reappointed at the next Annual Meeting.

Approved by the Board on 25 February 2019.

Kash Pandya

The Company was incorporated in the Republic 
of Mauritius on 9 December 2009 as a Category 2 
– Global Business Licence Company. 

Director appointments and resignations 
During the year, there were appointments and 
resignations of Directors as follows: Carlos Reyes Lopez 
(Appointed 17 May 2018); Umberto Pisoni (Appointed 
9 July 2018); Colin Curvey (Resigned 2 August 2018); 
Waldermar Rafal Szlezak (Resigned 31 January 2019).

Results and future prospects 
A detailed review of the results and future prospects 
is included in the Operating and Financial Review. 

Going concern 
The Directors have considered whether there are any 
material uncertainties that cast significant doubt on the 
Group’s ability to continue as a going concern. In order 
to mitigate the operating, commercial, legal, economic 
and financial risks to which the Group is exposed, the 
Directors have put in place a number of controls, reviews 
and procedures designed to address these risks. The 
Group’s forecasts and projections, taking account of 
reasonably possible changes in trading performance, 
show that the Group is able to generate positive cash 
flows from its operations and meet its liabilities as they 
fall due. Therefore, the Directors have a reasonable 
expectation that the Group has adequate resources to 
continue in operational existence for the foreseeable 
future. Thus, they adopt the going concern basis of 
accounting in preparing the annual financial statements. 

54 Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018

Governance ReportDirectors’ responsibilities statement

The Directors are responsible for the preparation and fair 
presentation of these financial statements in accordance 
with International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRSs”). 
International Accounting Standard (“IAS”) 1 requires 
that financial statements present fairly for each financial 
period the Group and Company’s financial position, 
financial performance and cash flows. This requires 
faithful representation of the effect of transactions, other 
events and conditions in accordance with the definitions 
and recognition criteria for assets, liabilities, income 
and expenses set out on the International Accounting 
Standards Board’s “Framework for the Preparation and 
Presentation of Financial Statements”. The Directors 
are also responsible for maintaining an effective system 
of internal control and risk management. In virtually 
all situations, a fair presentation will be achieved by 
complying with all applicable IFRSs. In preparing these 
financial statements, the Directors are also required to: 

•  select suitable accounting policies and then apply them 

consistently; 

•  present information, including accounting policies, in a 

manner that provides relevant, reliable, comparable and 
understandable information;

•  make judgements and accounting estimates that are 

reasonable and prudent;

•  provide additional disclosures when compliance with 

the specific requirements in IFRSs is insufficient to enable 
users to understand the impact of particular transactions, 
other events and conditions on the Group and Company’s 
financial position and financial performance; and 

•  prepare the financial statements on the going concern 

basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Group 
and Company will continue in business. The Directors  
are responsible for keeping proper accounting records 
that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the 
financial position of the Group and Company and enable 
them to ensure that the financial statements comply  
with IFRS. They are also responsible for safeguarding the 
assets of the Group and Company and hence for taking 
reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of  
fraud and other irregularities.

Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018 55

Financial StatementsGovernance ReportStrategic ReportOverviewIndependent auditor’s report to  
the shareholders of Helios Towers, Ltd

Report on the audit of the consolidated and separate financial statements
Opinion 
We have audited the consolidated and separate financial statements of Helios Towers, Ltd. (the “Company”) and its 
subsidiaries (collectively referred to as the “Group”) set out on pages 58 to 93, which comprise the consolidated and separate 
statement of financial position as at 31 December 2018, and the consolidated and separate statement of profit or loss and 
other comprehensive income, consolidated and separate statement of changes in equity and consolidated and separate 
statement of cash flows for the year then ended, and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant 
accounting policies.

In our opinion, the accompanying consolidated and separate financial statements give a true and fair view of the financial 
position of the Group and the Company as at 31 December 2018, and of their consolidated and separate financial 
performance and consolidated and separate cash flows for the year then ended in accordance with International Financial 
Reporting Standards (“IFRSs”). 

Basis for opinion 
We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (“ISAs”). Our responsibilities under those 
Standards are further described in the Auditor’s Responsibilities for the Audit of the Consolidated and separate financial 
statements section of our report. We are independent of the Group and the Company in accordance with the ethical 
requirements of the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants’ Code of Ethics for professional Accountants 
(“IESBA Code”), and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with the IESBA Code. We believe that 
the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Other information
The Directors are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises of the Overview, Strategic report and 
Governance report, but does not include the consolidated and separate financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon.

Our opinion on the consolidated and separate financial statements does not cover the other information and we do not 
express any form of assurance or conclusion thereon.

In connection with our audit of the consolidated and separate financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other 
information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the consolidated and 
separate financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If, 
based on the work we have performed on other information that we obtained prior to the date of this auditor’s report, we 
conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact. We have nothing 
to report in this regard.

When we read the other reports which are expected to be made available to us after the date of this auditor’s report, if we 
conclude that there is material misstatement therein, we are required to communicate the matter to the Directors.

Responsibilities of Directors for the consolidated and separate financial statements 
The Directors are responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of the consolidated and separate financial statements 
in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards and they are also responsible for such internal control as the 
Directors determine is necessary to enable the preparation of consolidated an financial statements that are free from material 
misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the consolidated and separate financial statements, the Directors are responsible for assessing the Group’s and 
the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using 
the going concern basis of accounting unless the Directors either intend to liquidate the Group and/or the Company or to 
cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

The Directors are responsible for overseeing the Group’s and the Company’s financial reporting process. 
. 

56 Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018

Financial StatementsAuditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the consolidated and separate financial statements
Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated and separate financial statements as a 
whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our 
opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with 
ISAs will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered 
material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users 
taken on the basis of these consolidated and separate financial statements.

As part of an audit in accordance with ISAs, we exercise professional judgement and maintain professional skepticism 
throughout the audit. We also:

•  Identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated and separate financial statements, whether due 

to fraud or error, design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, and obtain audit evidence that is sufficient 
and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is 
higher than for one resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, 
or the override of internal control.

•  Obtain an understanding of internal control relevant to the audit in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in 
the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Group’s and the Company’s 
internal control.

•  Evaluate the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates and related 

disclosures made by management.

•  Conclude on the appropriateness of the Directors’ use of the going concern basis of accounting and, based on the audit 

evidence obtained, whether a material uncertainty exists related to events or conditions that may cast significant doubt on 
the Group’s and the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. If we conclude that a material uncertainty exists, we 
are required to draw attention in our auditor’s report to the related disclosures in the consolidated and separate financial 
statements or, if such disclosures are inadequate, to modify our opinion. Our conclusions are based on the audit evidence 
obtained up to the date of our auditor’s report. However, future events or conditions may cause the Group and/or the 
Company to cease to continue as a going concern.

•  Evaluate the overall presentation, structure and content of the consolidated and separate financial statements, including 

the disclosures, and whether the consolidated and separate financial statements represent the underlying transactions and 
events in a manner that achieves fair presentation.

•  Obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence regarding the financial information of the entities or business activities within 
the Group to express an opinion on the consolidated financial statements. We are responsible for the direction, supervision 
and performance of the group audit. We remain solely responsible for our audit opinion.

We communicate with the directors regarding, among other matters, the planned scope and timing of the audit and 
significant audit findings, including any significant deficiencies in internal control that we identify during our audit.

This report is made solely to the Company’s shareholders, as a body. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might 
state to the Company’s shareholders those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other 
purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the Company 
and the Company’s shareholders as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Deloitte 
Chartered Accountants 

25 February 2019

L. Yeung Sik Yuen, ACA
Licensed by FRC

Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018 57

Financial StatementsGovernance ReportStrategic ReportOverview 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Consolidated Statement of profit or loss 
For the year ended 31 December 2018

Revenue
Cost of sales

Gross profit

Administrative expenses
Loss on disposal of property, plant and equipment

Operating profit/(loss)

Investment income
Other gains and losses 
Finance costs

Loss before tax

Tax expenses

Loss after tax for the year

The notes on pages 67 to 93 form part of these financial statements.

Notes

2018
US$’000

2017
US$’000

3

356,049
(255,848)

344,957
(275,651)

100,201

69,306

(91,059)
(5,835)

(91,261)
(2,018)

3,307

(23,973)

951
(16,831)
(107,005)

706
21,797
(102,757)

(119,578)

(104,227)

(4,369)

(3,207)

(123,947)

(107,434)

5

8
24
9

10

58 Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018

Financial StatementsConsolidated Statement of other comprehensive income
For the year ended 31 December 2018

Other comprehensive loss:
Items that may be reclassified subsequently to profit and loss:
Exchange differences on translation of foreign operations

Total comprehensive loss for the year

Loss attributable to:
Owners of the Company
Non-controlling interest

Loss for the year

Total comprehensive loss attributable to:
Owners of the Company
Non-controlling interest

Total comprehensive loss for the year

The notes on pages 67 to 93 form part of these financial statements.

Notes

2018
US$’000

2017
US$’000

(2,214)

(1,384)

(126,161)

(108,818)

(123,947)
–

(92,817)
(14,617)

(123,947)

(107,434)

(126,161)
–

(94,984)
 (13,834)

(126,161)

(108,818)

Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018 59

Financial StatementsGovernance ReportStrategic ReportOverviewCompany Statement of profit or loss  
and other comprehensive income
For the year ended 31 December 2018

Revenue
Cost of sales

Gross profit

Administrative expenses

Operating loss
Investment income
Finance income/(costs)

Loss before tax

Tax expenses

Loss after tax and total comprehensive loss for the year

The notes on pages 67 to 93 form part of these financial statements.

Notes

2018
US$’000

2017
US$’000

–
–

–

–
–

–

(42,767) 

(40,131)

(42,767)
–
124

(40,131)
132
(677)

(42,643)

(40,676)

–

–

(42,643)

(40,676)

5
8
9

10

60 Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018

Financial StatementsConsolidated Statement of financial position
For the year ended 31 December 2018

Non-current assets
Intangible assets
Property, plant and equipment
Right-of-use assets
Investments
Derivative financial assets

Current assets
Inventories
Trade and other receivables
Prepayments
Cash and cash equivalents

Total assets

Equity
Issued capital and reserves
Share capital 
Share premium

Stated capital
Other reserves
Minority interest buy-out reserve
Translation reserve
Accumulated losses

Equity attributable to owners
Non-controlling interest

Total equity

Current liabilities
Trade and other payables
Short-term lease liabilities
Minority interest buy-out liability
Loans

Non-current liabilities
Long-term lease liabilities
Loans

Total liabilities

Total equity and liabilities

31 December
2018
US$’000

Notes

31 December
2017
(Restated 
IFRS 16)
US$’000

1 January 
2017 
(Restated 
IFRS 16) 
US$’000

11
12a
12b
13
25

12,406
676,643
103,786
132
7,086

17,961
705,700
104,983
132
23,917

35,556 
655,140 
102,406 
132 
1,393 

800,053

852,693

794,627 

14
15
16
17

10,265
102,250
16,225
88,987

9,538
108,491
23,403
119,700

19,503 
126,929 
20,466 
133,737 

217,727

261,132

 300,635

1,017,780 1,113,825 1,095,262

18

909,154
186,951

909,154
186,951

909,134 
186,795 

1,096,105 1,096,105  1,095,929

(12,778)
–
(81,663)
(879,959)

(12,778)
–
(79,449)
(752,280)

(11,693) 
(54,429) 
(77,282) 
(554,878) 

121,705
–

251,598
–

 397,647
(36,322)

121,705

251,598

361,325

19
21

20

21
20

149,752
19,559
–
17,254

147,324
20,452
–
17,254

163,857
20,934
57,886
60,516

186,565

185,030

303,193

98,720
610,790

709,510

96,097
581,100

90,111 
340,633 

677,197

430,744 

896,075

862,227

 733,937

1,017,780 1,113,825  1,095,262

Approved and authorised for issue by the Board on 25 February 2019 and signed on its behalf by

Kash Pandya

Simon David Pitcher

The notes on pages 67 to 93 form part of these financial statements.

Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018 61

Financial StatementsGovernance ReportStrategic ReportOverviewCompany Statement of financial position
For the year ended 31 December 2018

Non-current assets
Intangible assets
Investments

Current assets
Trade and other receivables
Prepayments
Cash and cash equivalents

Total assets

Equity
Issued capital and reserves
Share capital 
Share premium

Stated capital
Other reserves
Accumulated losses

Total equity

Current liabilities
Trade and other payables

Total liabilities

Total equity and liabilities

Notes

2018
US$’000

2017
US$’000

11
13

15
16
17

257
430,677

176
430,677

430,934

430,853

494,477
334
4,555

482,802
221
18,314

499,366

501,337

930,300

932,190

18

909,154
186,951

909,154
186,951

1,096,105 1,096,105
(9,835)
(164,889)

(9,835)
(207,532)

878,738

921,381

19

51,562

51,562

10,809

10,809

930,300

932,190

Approved and authorised for issue by the Board on 25 February 2019 and signed on its behalf by

Kash Pandya

Simon David Pitcher

The notes on pages 67 to 93 form part of these financial statements.

62 Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018

Financial StatementsConsolidated Statement of changes in equity
For the year ended 31 December 2018

Share
capital
US$’000

Share 
premium
US$’000

Stated 
capital 
US$’000

Other 
reserves 
US$’000

 Minority 
interest 
buy–out 
reserves
US$’000

Translation 
reserve
US$’000

Accumulated
losses
US$’000

Attributable 
to the 
owners of 
the parent
US$’000

Non–
controlling 
interest  
(NCI)
US$’000

Total 
equity
US$’000

Balance at 1 January 2017 
(as previously reported)

Restatement – IFRS 16(i)

909,134

186,795 1,095,929

(11,693)

(54,429)

(77,486)

(544,355)

407,966

(36,322)

371,644

–

–

–

–

–

204

(10,523)

(10,319)

–

(10,319)

Balance at 1 January 2017 

909,134

186,795 1,095,929

(11,693)

(54,429)

(77,282)

(554,878)

397,647

(36,322)

361,325

(restated)

Issue of share capital
Share issue costs
Acquisition of NCI
Premium on acquisition of NCI
Minority buy-out reserves

Loss for the year
Other comprehensive loss

Total comprehensive loss for 

the year

20
–
–
–
–

–
–

–

156
–
–
–
–

–
–

–

176
–
–
–
–

–
–

–

–
(1,085)
–
–
–

–
–
–
–
54,429

–
–

–

Balance at 31 December 2017  909,154
–
Effects of transition to IFRS 9

186,951 1,096,105
–

–

(12,778)
–

Loss for the year
Other comprehensive loss

Total comprehensive loss for 

the year

–
–

–

–
–

–

–
–

–

–
–

–

Balance at 31 December 2018 909,154

186,951 1,096,105

(12,778)

(i)  See note 2.

–
–
–
–
–

–
(2,167)

–
–
(36,658)
(13,498)
(54,429)

(92,817)
–

176
(1,085)
(36,658)
(13,498)
–

(92,817)
(2,167)

–
–
50,156
–
–

176
(1,085)
13,498
(13,498)
–

(14,617)
783

(107,434)
(1,384)

(2,167)

(92,817)

(94,984)

(13,834)

(108,818)

(79,449)
–

(752,280)
(3,732)

251,598
(3,732)

–
(2,214)

(123,947)
–

(123,947)
(2,214)

(2,214)

(123,947)

(126,161)

(81,663)

(879,959)

121,705

–
–

–
–

–

–

251,598
(3,732)

(123,947)
(2,214)

(126,161)

121,705

–
–

–

–
–

–
–

–

–

Other reserves relate to the costs incurred in issuing equity. These costs include registration and other regulatory fees, 
amounts paid to legal, accounting and other professional advisors.

During the year, the Group transitioned to IFRS 9: Financial Instruments, with the effect of transition shown as at 1 January 
2018. More detail is disclosed in note 2.

Translation reserve relates to the translation of the financial statements of overseas subsidiaries in to the presentational 
currency of the consolidated financial statements. 

Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018 63

Financial StatementsGovernance ReportStrategic ReportOverviewCompany Statement of changes in equity
For the year ended 31 December 2018

Share
capital
US$’000

Share
premium
US$’000

Stated
capital
US$’000

Other 
reserves
US$’000

Accumulated
losses
US$’000

Total
equity
US$’000

Balance at 1 January 2017
Issue of share capital
Loss and total comprehensive loss for the year

Balance at 31 December 2017
Loss and total comprehensive loss for the year

909,134
20
–

909,154
–

186,795 1,095,929
176
–

156
–

186,951 1,096,105
–

–

(9,835)
–
–

(9,835)
–

(124,213)
–
(40,676)

(164,889)
(42,643)

961,881
176
(40,676)

921,381
(42,643)

Balance at 31 December 2018

909,154

186,951 1,096,105

(9,835)

(207,532)

878,738

Other reserves relates to the costs incurred in issuing equity. These costs include registration and other regulatory fees, 
amounts paid to legal, accounting and other professional advisors.

64 Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018

Financial StatementsConsolidated Statement of cash flows
For the year ended 31 December 2018

Cash flows from operating activities
Loss for the year before taxation
Adjustments for:
Other gains and losses
Finance costs
Investment income
Depreciation and amortisation
Loss on disposal of property, plant and equipment
Movement in working capital:
Increase in inventories
Decrease in trade and other receivables
(Increase)/decrease in prepayments
Decrease in trade and other payables

Cash generated from operations
Interest paid
Tax paid

Net cash generated from operating activities

Cash flows from investing activities
Payments to acquire property, plant and equipment
Payments to acquire intangible assets
Proceeds on disposal on assets
Interest received 

Net cash used in investing activities

Cash flows from financing activities
Gross proceeds from issue of equity share capital
Payments for buy-back of shares
Borrowing drawdowns
Loan financing costs
Borrowing repayments
Repayment of lease liabilities

Net cash generated from financing activities

Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents

Foreign exchange on translation movement
Cash and cash equivalents at 1 January 

Cash and cash equivalents at 31 December 

Notes

2018
US$’000

2017
US$’000

24
9
8
11, 12

(119,578)

(104,227)

16,831
107,005
(951)
141,328
5,835

(1,004)
9,332
(3,841)
(21,198)

133,759
(69,875)
(2,941)

(21,797)
102,757
(706)
148,926
2,018

(2,548)
7,632
5,968
(27,567)

110,456
(51,633)
(1,251)

60,943

57,572

(103,000)
(3,158)
138
951

(166,711)
(3,857)
249
704

(105,069)

(169,615)

–
–
25,000
–
–
(10,422)

163
(58,556)
600,000
(24,079)
(407,983)
(11,675)

14,578

97,870

(29,548)

(14,173)

(1,165)
119,700

136
133,737

88,987

119,700

Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018 65

Financial StatementsGovernance ReportStrategic ReportOverview 
Company Statement of cash flows
For the year ended 31 December 2018

Cash flows from operating activities
Loss for the year before taxation 
Adjustments for:
Finance costs
Investment income
Amortisation
Movement in working capital:
Decrease in trade and other receivables
Decrease in prepayments
(Increase)/decrease in trade and other payables

Net cash generated from/(used in) operating activities

Cash flows from investing activities
Payment to acquire intangible asset

Net cash used in investing activities

Cash flows from financing activities
Gross proceeds from issue of equity share capital

Net cash generated from financing activities

Net (decrease)/increase in cash and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents at 1 January

Cash and cash equivalents at 31 December 

Notes

2018
US$’000

2017
US$’000

9
8
11

(42,643)

(40,676)

(124)
–
89

822
40
28,227

677
(132)
13,210

1,552
3,490
(47,381)

(13,589)

(69,260)

(170)

(170)

–

–

(142)

(142)

163

163

(13,759)
18,314

(69,239)
87,553

4,555

18,314

66 Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018

Financial Statements 
Notes to the Financial Statements
For the year ended 31 December 2018

1. Statement of compliance and presentation of financial statements
Helios Towers, Ltd (the “Company”) is a limited company incorporated and domiciled in the Republic of Mauritius.
The Company and entities controlled by the Company (its subsidiaries, together the “Group”) are disclosed in note 13. The 
Group and the Company’s financial statements have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting 
Standards (“IFRSs”) issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (“IASB”). The Company holds a Category 2 
Global Business Licence issued by the Financial Services Commission (“FSC”). The principal accounting policies adopted by 
the Group and the Company are set out in note 2.

2. Accounting Policies
Basis of preparation
The financial statements have been prepared on the historical cost basis, except for the revaluation of certain financial 
instruments that are measured at fair value at the end of each reporting period. The financial statements are presented in 
United States Dollars (US$). Historical cost is generally based on the fair value of the consideration given in exchange for 
goods and services. 

Fair value is the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between 
market participants at the measurement date, regardless of whether that price is directly observable or estimated using 
another valuation technique. In estimating the fair value of an asset or a liability, the Group and the Company takes into 
account the characteristics of the asset or liability if market participants would take those characteristics into account when 
pricing the asset or liability at the measurement date. Fair value for measurement and/or disclosure purposes in these 
consolidated and separate financial statements is determined on such a basis, and measurements that have some similarities 
to fair value but are not fair value, such as net realisable value in IAS 2 or value in use in IAS 36. 

In addition, for financial reporting purposes, fair value measurements are categorised into Level 1, 2 or 3 based on the degree 
to which the inputs to the fair value measurements are observable and the significance of the inputs to the fair value 
measurement in its entirety, which are described as follows: 
•  Level 1 fair value measurements are those derived from quoted prices (unadjusted) in active markets for identical assets or 

liabilities;

•   Level 2 fair value measurements are those derived from inputs other than quoted prices included within Level 1 that are 

observable for the asset or liability, either directly (i.e. as prices) or indirectly (i.e. derived from prices); and

•  Level 3 fair value measurements are those derived from valuation techniques that include inputs for the asset or liability 

that are not based on observable market data (unobservable inputs).

The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.

Basis of consolidation
The consolidated financial statements incorporate the financial statements of the Company and entities controlled by the 
Company (its subsidiaries) made up to 31 December each year. Control is achieved when the Company:
•  has the power over the investee;
•  is exposed, or has rights, to variable return from its involvement with the investee; and
•  has the ability to use its power to affect its returns.

The Company reassesses whether or not it controls an investee if facts and circumstances indicate that there are changes to 
one or more of the three elements of control listed above. 

Consolidation of a subsidiary begins when the Company obtains control over the subsidiary and ceases when the Company 
loses control of the subsidiary. Specifically, the results of subsidiaries acquired or disposed of during the year are included in 
the consolidated statement of profit or loss and other comprehensive income from the date the Company gains control until 
the date when the Company ceases to control the subsidiary.

Profit or loss and each component of other comprehensive income are attributed to the owners of the Company and to the 
non-controlling interests. Total comprehensive income of the subsidiaries is attributed to the owners of the Company and to 
the non-controlling interests even if this results in the non-controlling interests having a deficit balance. 

Where necessary, adjustments are made to the financial statements of subsidiaries to bring the accounting policies used into 
line with the Group’s accounting policies. 

All intragroup assets and liabilities, equity, income, expenses and cash flows relating to transactions between the members of 
the Group are eliminated on consolidation.

Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018 67

Financial StatementsGovernance ReportStrategic ReportOverviewNotes to the Financial Statements
For the year ended 31 December 2018 (continued)

2. Accounting Policies (continued)
Basis of consolidation (continued) 
Non-controlling interests in subsidiaries are identified separately from the Group’s equity therein. Those interests of  
non-controlling shareholders that are present ownership interests entitling their holders to a proportionate share of net  
assets upon liquidation may initially be measured at fair value or at the non-controlling interests’ proportionate share of  
the fair value of the acquiree’s identifiable net assets. The choice of measurement is made on an acquisition-by-acquisition 
basis. Other non-controlling interests are initially measured at fair value. Subsequent to acquisition, the carrying amount of 
non-controlling interests is the amount of those interests at initial recognition plus the non-controlling interests’ share of 
subsequent changes in equity. 

Changes in the Group’s interests in subsidiaries that do not result in a loss of control are accounted for as equity transactions. 
The carrying amount of the Group’s interests and the non-controlling interests are adjusted to reflect the changes in their 
relative interests in the subsidiaries. Any difference between the amount by which the non-controlling interests are adjusted 
and the fair value of the consideration paid or received is recognised directly in equity and attributed to the owners of  
the Company.

Going concern
The Group’s business activities, together with factors likely to affect its future development, performance and position 
are considered by the Directors on an annual basis. In addition, notes 20 and 25 include details of the Group’s treasury 
activities, long-term funding arrangements, financial instruments and financial risk management activities.

The Group has sufficient financial resources which, together with internally generated cash flows, will continue to provide 
sufficient sources of liquidity to fund its current operations, including its contractual and commercial commitments as set out 
in note 20. The Directors assess forecasts and make financing and liquidity reviews on a regular basis.

The Directors have, at the time of approving the financial statements, a reasonable expectation that the Company and the 
Group have adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus they continue to adopt 
the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.

Changes in accounting policies
In the current year, the Group has applied IFRS 9 Financial Instruments (as revised in July 2014) and the related consequential 
amendments to other IFRS Standards that are effective for an annual period that begins on or after 1 January 2018. The 
transition provisions of IFRS 9 allow an entity not to restate comparatives. The impact of adoption of IFRS 9 on 1 January 2018 
is to increase the Accumulated losses balance from US$741.8 million as previously stated to US$745.5 million. The US$3.7 
million increase in Accumulated losses resulted entirely from a change in the measurement attribute of the loss allowance 
relating to trade receivables.

Additionally, the Group adopted consequential amendments to IFRS 7 Financial Instruments: Disclosures, that were applied to 
the disclosures for 2018.

IFRS 9 introduced new requirements for:
•  the classification and measurement of financial assets and financial liabilities; and
•  impairment of financial assets

Details of these new requirements, as well as their impact on the Group’s consolidated financial statements, are described below.
The Group has applied IFRS 9 in accordance with the transition provisions set out in IFRS 9.

Classification and measurement of financial assets
The date of initial application (i.e. the date on which the Group has assessed its existing financial assets and financial liabilities 
in terms of the requirements of IFRS 9) is 1 January 2018. Accordingly, the Group has applied the requirements of IFRS 9 to 
instruments that continue to be recognised as at 1 January 2018 and has not applied the requirements to instruments that 
have already been derecognised as at 1 January 2018.

All recognised financial assets that are within the scope of IFRS 9 are required to be measured subsequently at amortised cost 
or fair value on the basis of the entity’s business model for managing the financial assets and the contractual cash flow 
characteristics of the financial assets.

Specifically:
•  debt instruments that are held within a business model whose objective is to collect the contractual cash flows, and that 
have contractual cash flows that are solely payments of principal and interest on the principal amount outstanding, are 
measured subsequently at amortised cost; and

•  all other debt investments and equity investments are measured subsequently at fair value through profit or loss (FVTPL).

68 Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018

Financial Statements2. Accounting Policies (continued)
Changes in accounting policies (continued)
The Directors of the Company reviewed and assessed the Group’s existing financial assets as at 1 January 2018 based on the 
facts and circumstances that existed at that date and concluded that the initial application of IFRS 9 has had the following 
impact on the Group’s financial assets as regards their classification and measurement:
•  financial assets classified as held-to-maturity and loans and receivables under IAS 39 that were measured at amortised 

cost continue to be measured at amortised cost under IFRS 9 as they are held within a business model to collect 
contractual cash flows and these cash flows consist solely of payments of principal and interest on the principal  
amount outstanding.

None of the other reclassifications of financial assets have had any impact on the Group’s financial position, profit or loss, 
other comprehensive income or total comprehensive income in either year.

Impairment of financial assets
In relation to the impairment of financial assets, IFRS 9 requires an expected credit loss model as opposed to an incurred credit 
loss model under IAS 39. The expected credit loss model requires the Group to account for expected credit losses and changes 
in those expected credit losses at each reporting date to reflect changes in credit risk since initial recognition of the financial 
assets. In other words, it is no longer necessary for a credit event to have occurred before credit losses are recognised.

Specifically, IFRS 9 requires the Group to recognise a loss allowance for expected credit losses on:
•  Debt investments measured subsequently at amortised cost; and
•  Trade receivables.

In particular, IFRS 9 requires the Group to measure the loss allowance for a financial instrument at an amount equal to the 
lifetime expected credit losses (“ECL”) if the credit risk on that financial instrument has increased significantly since initial 
recognition, or if the financial instrument is a purchased or originated credit-impaired financial asset. However, if the credit  
risk on a financial instrument has not increased significantly since initial recognition (except for a purchased or originated 
credit-impaired financial asset), the Group is required to measure the loss allowance for that financial instrument at an amount 
equal to 12-months ECL. IFRS 9 also requires a simplified approach for measuring the loss allowance at an amount equal to 
lifetime ECL for trade receivables, contract assets and lease receivables in certain circumstances.

The consequential amendments to IFRS 7 have also resulted in more extensive disclosures about the Group’s exposure to 
credit risk in the consolidated financial statements.

Classification and measurement of financial liabilities
A significant change introduced by IFRS 9 in the classification and measurement of financial liabilities relates to the accounting 
for changes in the fair value of a financial liability designated as at FVTPL attributable to changes in the credit risk of the issuer.

Specifically, IFRS 9 requires that the changes in the fair value of the financial liability that is attributable to changes in the 
credit risk of that liability be presented in other comprehensive income, unless the recognition of the effects of changes in the 
liability’s credit risk in other comprehensive income would create or enlarge an accounting mismatch in profit or loss. Changes 
in fair value attributable to a financial liability’s credit risk are not subsequently reclassified to profit or loss, but are instead 
transferred to retained earnings when the financial liability is derecognised. Previously, under IAS 39, the entire amount of the 
change in the fair value of the financial liability designated as at FVTPL was presented in profit or loss. There is no impact 
from this change on the Group consolidated financial statements.

There were no financial assets or financial liabilities which the Group had previously designated as at FVTPL under IAS 39 that 
were subject to reclassification or which the Group has elected to reclassify upon the application of IFRS 9. There were no 
additional financial assets or financial liabilities which the Group has elected to designate as FVTPL at the date of initial 
application of IFRS 9.

The application of IFRS 9 has had no impact on the consolidated cash flows of the Group.

Restatement – IFRS 16
The right-of-use asset balance and related reserves have been restated to reflect a refinement to the underlying IFRS 16 
model such that leases are now calculated with reference to the underlying functional currency rather than $USD.

Accordingly, the comparative Group statement of financial position and statement of changes in equity line items have been 
restated as follows:

Line item description

Right-of-use assets

Translation reserve

Accumulated losses

31 December 2017  
(as previously 
stated)

31 December 2017  

(as restated)

115,302

(79,653)

104,983

(79,449)

1 January 2017  
(as previously 
stated)

112,725

(77,486)

1 January 2017  
(as restated)

102,406

(77,282)

(741,757)

(752,280)

(544,355)

(554,878)

The adjustment has no impact on previously reported Group revenue, gross profit, loss before tax, loss after tax for the  
year, total comprehensive income or adjusted EBITDA (as defined in note 4). There is no impact on the previously stated 
Company results.

Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018 69

Financial StatementsGovernance ReportStrategic ReportOverviewNotes to the Financial Statements
For the year ended 31 December 2018 (continued)

2. Accounting Policies (continued)
Revenue recognition
In the prior year, the Group applied IFRS 15 Revenue from Contracts with Customers (as amended in April 2016) in advance of 
its effective date. IFRS 15 introduces a five-step approach to revenue recognition. Far more prescriptive guidance has been 
added in IFRS 15 to deal with specific scenarios. Details of these new requirements as well as their impact on the Group’s 
consolidated financial statements are described below.

The Group applied IFRS 15 in accordance with the fully retrospective transitional approach without using the practical 
expedients for completed contracts in IFRS 15.C5(a), and (b), or for modified contracts in IFRS 15.C5(c) or using the expedient 
in IFRS 15.C3(d) allowing both non-disclosure of the amount of the transaction price allocated to the remaining performance 
obligations, and an explanation of when it expects to recognise that amount as revenue for all reporting periods presented 
before the date of initial application.

IFRS 15 uses the terms ‘contract asset’ and ‘contract liability’ to describe what might more commonly be known as ‘accrued 
income’ and ‘deferred income’, however the Standard does not prohibit an entity from using alternative descriptions in the 
statement of financial position. The Group has not adopted the terminology used in IFRS 15 to describe such balances.

The Group’s accounting policies for its revenue stream are disclosed in detail below. Apart from providing more extensive 
disclosures on the Group’s revenue transactions, the application of IFRS 15 has not had a significant impact on the financial 
position and financial performance of the Group.

The Group recognises revenue from the rendering of tower services provided by utilisation of the Group’s tower infrastructure 
pursuant to written contracts with its customers. Revenue is measured at the fair value of the consideration received or 
receivable and represents amounts receivable for services provided in the normal course of business, less VAT and other 
sales-related taxes. Revenue is reduced for estimated and agreed liquidated damages resulting from failure to meet the 
agreed service performance levels set out in the contract.

The Group provides tower and related services for the utilisation of its tower infrastructure to mobile and other 
telecommunication operators. Revenue includes fees for the provision of tower infrastructure, power escalations and 
tower service contracts. These services are recognised as the performance obligation is satisfied over time.

Customers are usually billed in advance creating a contract liability which is then recognised as the performance obligation 
is met over a straight-line basis. Revenue related to power escalations is recognised when the escalation is calculated in 
accordance with the contractual terms.

Though multiple performance obligations arise as a result of the provision of these services, the Group considers it reasonable 
to combine the provision of these tower services into a single performance obligation as this does not impact the ultimate 
pattern of revenue recognition as they are all recognised over time.

Lessee accounting
In the prior year, the Group applied IFRS 16 Leases in advance of its effective date. The Group holds leases primarily on land, 
buildings and motor vehicles used in the ordinary course of business. Based on the accounting policy applied the Group 
recognises a right-of-use asset and a lease liability at the commencement date of the contract for all leases conveying the 
right to control the use of an identified asset for a period of time. The commencement date is the date on which a lessor 
makes an underlying asset available for use by a lessee.

The right-of-use assets are initially measured at cost, which comprises:
•  the amount of the initial measurement of the lease liability;
•  any lease payments made at or before the commencement date, less any lease incentives received; and,
•  any initial direct costs incurred by the lessee.

After the commencement date the right-of-use assets are measured at cost less any accumulated depreciation and any 
accumulated impairment losses and adjusted for any remeasurement of the lease liability.

The Group depreciates the right-of-use asset from the commencement date to the end of the lease term.

The lease liability is initially measured at the present value of the lease payments that are not paid at that date.

These include:
•  fixed payments, less any lease incentives receivable; and
•  variable lease payments that depend on a fixed rate, as at the commencement date.

70 Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018

Financial Statements 
 
 
 
 
 
2. Accounting Policies (continued)
Lessee accounting (continued)
Variable lease payments not included in the initial measurement of the lease liability are recognised in the consolidated 
statement of profit or loss as they arise.

The lease payments are discounted using the incremental borrowing rate at the commencement of the lease contract 
or modification. Generally it is not possible to determine the interest rate implicit in the land and building leases. The 
incremental borrowing rate is estimated taking account of the economic environment of the lease, the currency of 
the lease and the lease term. The lease term determined by the Group comprises:
•  non-cancellable period of lease contracts;
•  periods covered by an option to extend the lease if the Group is reasonably certain to exercise that option; and
•  periods covered by an option to terminate the lease if the Group is reasonably certain not to exercise that option.

After the commencement date the Group measures the lease liability by:
•  increasing the carrying amount to reflect interest on the lease liability;
•  reducing the carrying amount to reflect lease payments made; and
•  remeasuring the carrying amount to reflect any reassessment or lease modifications.

Interest expense 
Interest expense is recognised as interest accrues, using the effective interest method, to the net carrying amount of the 
financial liability. 

The effective interest method is a method of calculating the amortised cost of a financial asset/financial liability and of 
allocating interest income/interest expense over the relevant period. The effective interest rate is the rate that exactly 
discounts estimated future cash receipts/payments through the expected life of the financial assets/financial liabilities,  
or, where appropriate, a shorter period.

Retirement benefit costs 
Payments to defined contribution retirement benefit schemes are recognised as an expense when employees have rendered 
service entitling them to the contributions. Payments made to state-managed retirement benefit schemes are dealt with as 
payments to defined contribution schemes where the Group’s obligations under the schemes are equivalent to those arising 
in a defined contribution retirement benefit scheme.

Taxation
The tax expense represents the sum of the tax currently payable and deferred tax.

Current tax
The tax currently payable is based on taxable profit for the year. Taxable profit differs from net profit as reported in the 
statement of profit or loss and other comprehensive income because it excludes items of income or expense that are taxable 
or deductible in other years and it further excludes items that are never taxable or deductible. The Group’s liability for current 
tax is calculated using tax rates that have been enacted or substantively enacted by the reporting date.

Deferred tax
Deferred tax is the tax expected to be payable or recoverable on differences between the carrying amounts of assets and 
liabilities in the financial statements and the corresponding tax bases used in the computation of taxable profit, and is 
accounted for using the statement of financial position liability method. Deferred tax liabilities are generally recognised for all 
taxable temporary differences and deferred tax assets are recognised to the extent that it is probable that taxable profits will 
be available against which deductible temporary differences can be utilised. Such assets and liabilities are not recognised if 
the temporary difference arises from the initial recognition of goodwill or from the initial recognition (other than in a business 
combination) of other assets and liabilities in a transaction that affects neither the taxable profit nor the accounting profit.

Deferred tax liabilities are recognised for taxable temporary differences arising on investments in subsidiaries, except where 
the Group is able to control the reversal of the temporary difference and it is probable that the temporary difference will not 
reverse in the foreseeable future. Deferred tax assets arising from deductible temporary differences associated with such 
investments and interests are only recognised to the extent that it is probable that there will be sufficient taxable profits 
against which to utilise the benefits of the temporary differences and they are expected to reverse in the foreseeable future.

The carrying amount of deferred tax assets is reviewed at each reporting date and reduced to the extent that it is no longer 
probable that sufficient taxable profits will be available to allow all or part of the asset to be recovered.

Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018 71

Financial StatementsGovernance ReportStrategic ReportOverview 
 
Notes to the Financial Statements
For the year ended 31 December 2018 continued

2. Accounting Policies (continued)
Deferred tax (continued)
Deferred tax is calculated at the tax rates that are expected to apply in the period when the liability is settled or the asset is 
realised based on tax laws and rates that have been enacted or substantively enacted at the reporting date. Deferred tax is 
charged or credited in the profit or loss, except when it relates to items charged or credited in other comprehensive income,  
in which case the deferred tax is also dealt with in other comprehensive income.

The measurement of deferred tax liabilities and assets reflects the tax consequences that would follow from the manner in 
which the Group expects, at the end of the reporting period, to recover or settle the carrying amount of its assets and liabilities.

Deferred tax assets and liabilities are offset when there is a legally enforceable right to set off current tax assets against 
current tax liabilities and when they relate to income taxes levied by the same taxation authority and the Group intends  
to settle its current tax assets and liabilities on a net basis.

Current tax and deferred tax for the year
Current and deferred tax are recognised in the statement of profit or loss, except when they relate to items that are 
recognised in other comprehensive income or directly in equity, in which case the current and deferred tax are also 
recognised in other comprehensive income or directly in equity respectively.

Foreign currency exchange
The individual financial statements of each Group company are presented in the currency of the primary economic 
environment in which it operates (its functional currency). For the purpose of the consolidated financial statements, the 
results and financial position of each Group company are expressed in United States Dollars (“US$”), which is the functional 
currency of the Company, and the presentation currency for the consolidated financial statements.

In preparing the financial statements of the individual companies, transactions in currencies other than the entity’s functional 
currency (foreign currencies) are recognised at the rates of exchange prevailing on the dates of the transactions. At each 
reporting date, monetary assets and liabilities that are denominated in foreign currencies are re-translated at the rates 
prevailing at that date. Non-monetary items carried at fair value that are denominated in foreign currencies are translated  
at the rates prevailing at the date when the fair value was determined. Non-monetary items that are measured in terms of 
historical cost in a foreign currency are not re-translated.

For the purpose of presenting consolidated financial statements, the assets and liabilities of the Group’s foreign operations 
are translated at exchange rates prevailing on the reporting date. Income and expense items are translated at the average 
exchange rates for the period, unless exchange rates fluctuate significantly during that period, in which case the exchange 
rates at the date of transactions are used. Exchange differences arising, if any, are recognised in other comprehensive income 
and accumulated in a separate component of equity (attributed to non-controlling interests as appropriate). 

On the disposal of a foreign operation (i.e. a disposal of the Group’s entire interest in a foreign operation, or a disposal 
involving loss of control over a subsidiary that includes a foreign operation, or a partial disposal of an interest in a joint 
arrangement or an associate that includes a foreign operation of which the retained interest become a financial asset), all 
of the exchange differences accumulated in a separate component of equity in respect of that operation attributable to the 
owners of the Company are reclassified to profit or loss.

In addition, in relation to a partial disposal of a subsidiary that includes a foreign operation that does not result in the Group 
losing control over the subsidiary, the proportionate share of accumulated exchange differences are re-attributed to non-
controlling interests and are not recognised in profit or loss. For all other partial disposals (i.e. partial disposals of associates or 
joint arrangements that do not result in the Group losing significant influence or joint control), the proportionate share of the 
accumulated exchange differences is reclassified to profit or loss. 

72 Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018

Financial Statements2. Accounting Policies (continued)
Property, plant and equipment
Items of property, plant and equipment are stated at cost of acquisition or production cost less accumulated depreciation and 
impairment losses, if any.

Assets in the course of construction for production, supply or administrative purposes, are carried at cost, less any recognised 
impairment loss. Cost includes material and labour and professional fees in accordance with the Group’s accounting policy. 
Depreciation of these assets, on the same basis as other assets, commences when the assets are ready for their intended use.

Freehold land is not depreciated.

Right-of-use assets 
Site Assets – Towers 
Site Assets – Generators    
Site Assets – Plant & Machinery  
Fixtures and Fittings 
IT Equipment 
Motor Vehicles  
Leasehold Improvements   

Up to 60 years
Up to 15 years
8 years
3–5 years
3 years
3 years
5 years
5–10 years 

Directly attributable costs of acquiring tower assets are capitalised together with the towers acquired and depreciated over a 
period of up to 15 years in line with the assets.

An item of property, plant and equipment is derecognised upon disposal or when no future economic benefits are expected 
to arise from continued use of the asset. Any gain or loss arising on disposal or retirement of an item of property, plant and 
equipment is determined as the difference between the sale proceeds and the carrying amount of the asset and is recognised 
in profit and loss.

Intangible assets
Contract acquired related intangible assets are amortised on a straight-line basis over the life of the contract. Other intangible 
assets are amortised on a straight-line basis over their estimated lives of 3–10 years.

An intangible asset is derecognised on disposal, or when no future economic benefits are expected from use or disposal. 
Gains or losses arising from derecognition of an intangible asset, measured as the difference between the net disposal 
proceeds and the carrying amount of the asset, are recognised in profit or loss when the asset is derecognised. 

Impairment of tangible and intangible assets 
At each reporting date, the Directors review the carrying amounts of its tangible and intangible assets to determine whether 
there is any indication that those assets have suffered an impairment loss. If any such indication exists, the recoverable 
amount of the asset is estimated to determine the extent of the impairment loss (if any). Where the asset does not generate 
cash flows that are independent from other assets, the Directors estimate the recoverable amount of the cash-generating unit 
to which the asset belongs. The recoverable amount is the higher of fair value less costs to sell and value in use. In assessing 
value in use, the estimated future cash flows are discounted to their present value using a pre-tax discount rate that reflects 
current market assessments of the time value of money and the risks specific to the asset for which the estimates of future 
cash flows have not been adjusted.

If the recoverable amount of an asset (or cash-generating unit) is estimated to be less than its carrying amount, the carrying 
amount of the asset (or cash-generating unit) is reduced to its recoverable amount. An impairment loss is recognised 
immediately in profit or loss.

Investments
Investments in subsidiaries are included in the financial statements initially at cost. Cost comprises all the costs associated 
with the acquisition of the investment including the fair value of the consideration for the investment instruments, any local 
taxes and costs associated with investigation and negotiating the acquisition. At the end of each financial reporting year, the 
Directors review the investment instruments to determine the recoverable amount. If the recoverable amount is considered to 
be less than cost, an impairment provision is recognised.

Costs incurred in the investigation of prospective investments are expensed in the year in which they are incurred. Should 
prospective investments become subsidiaries, the directly attributable costs of investment are capitalised as part of the cost 
of the investment. 

Inventory
Inventories are stated at the lower of cost and net realisable value. Cost comprises direct materials and those overheads that 
have been incurred in bringing the inventories to their present location and condition. Cost is calculated using the weighted 
average method. 

Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018 73

Financial StatementsGovernance ReportStrategic ReportOverview 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Notes to the Financial Statements
For the year ended 31 December 2018 (continued)

2. Accounting Policies (continued)
Trade and other receivables
Trade receivables are recognised by the Group and the Company carried at original invoice amount less an allowance for any 
non-collectable or impaired amounts. The Group uses the IFRS 9 ECL model to measure loss allowances at an amount equal 
to their lifetime expected credit loss.

Other receivables are recognised at fair value. Subsequent measurement is at amortised cost using the effective interest 
method, less any impairment.

Cash and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents comprise cash at bank and in hand and short-term deposits. Short-term deposits are defined as 
deposits with an initial maturity of three months or less.

Bank overdrafts that are repayable on demand and form an integral part of the Group’s cash management are included as 
a component of cash and cash equivalents for the purposes of the statement of cash flows.

Derivative financial instruments
Short-term debtors and creditors are treated as financial assets or liabilities. The Group does not trade in financial instruments. 
The Group enters into derivative financial instruments to manage its exposure to interest rate risk. 

Derivatives are initially recognised at fair value at the date a derivative contract is entered into and are subsequently 
remeasured to their fair value at each reporting date. The resulting gain or loss is recognised in profit or loss immediately.

A derivative with a positive fair value is recognised as a financial asset whereas a derivative with a negative fair value is 
recognised as a financial liability. A derivative is presented as a non-current asset or a non-current liability if the remaining 
maturity of the instrument is more than 12 months and it is not expected to be realised or settled within 12 months. Other 
derivatives are presented as current assets or current liabilities.

Derivatives embedded in other financial instruments or other host contracts are treated as separate derivatives when their 
risks and characteristics are not closely related to those of the host contracts and the host contracts are not measured at fair 
value through profit or loss. Embedded derivatives are disclosed separately in the statement of financial position.

Other financial liabilities 
Other financial liabilities, including borrowings, are initially measured at fair value, net of transaction costs. 

Other financial liabilities are subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method, with interest 
expense recognised on an effective yield basis. 

Derecognition of financial liabilities
The Group and the Company derecognise financial liabilities when, and only when, the Group’s and the Company’s obligations 
are discharged, cancelled or have expired. The difference between the carrying amount of the financial liability derecognised 
and the consideration paid and payable is recognised in profit or loss.

Related parties
For the purpose of these financial statements, parties are considered to be related to the Group if they have the ability, 
directly or indirectly to control the Group or exercise significant influence over the Group in making financial or operating 
decisions, or vice versa, or where the Group is subject to common control or common significant influence. Related parties 
may be individuals or other entities.

Deferred income
Deferred income is recognised when payments are received from customers in advance of services being provided. The 
Group policy is to bill customers in advance, thus creating deferred income. The deferred income is included as a current 
liability within trade and other payables.

New accounting pronouncement
The Group has adopted all of the new and revised Standards and Interpretations issued by the International Accounting 
Standards Board (“IASB”) and International Financial Reporting Interpretations Committee (“IFRIC”) of the IASB that are 
relevant to its operations and effective for accounting periods covered by the financial statements. 

New and revised IFRSs in issue but not yet effective
At the date of authorisation of the financial statements, there were no new and revised IFRSs that have been issued but are 
not yet effective or have not already been adopted by the Group.

74 Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018

Financial Statements2. Accounting Policies (continued)
Critical accounting judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty
In the application of the Group’s accounting policies, which are described above, the Directors are required to make 
judgements (other than those involving estimations) that have a significant impact on the amounts recognised and to make 
estimates and assumptions about the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other 
sources. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered 
to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates. 

The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are 
recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised if the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision 
and future periods if the revision affects both current and future periods.

Critical judgements in applying the Group’s accounting policies
The following are the critical judgements, apart from those involving estimations (which are dealt with separately below), that 
the Directors, have made in the process of applying the Group’s accounting policies and that have the most significant effect 
on the amounts recognised in the financial statements. 

Revenue recognition
Revenue is recognised as service revenue in accordance with IFRS 15: Revenue from contracts with customers. In arriving  
at this assessment the Directors concluded that there is not an embedded lease because its contracts permit it, subject to 
certain conditions, to relocate customer’s equipment on its towers in order to accommodate other tenants and therefore  
the contract does not provide the customer with the right to a specific location on the tower.

Business combinations
From time to time, the Group acquires a portfolio of towers, comprising the tower infrastructure and other associated  
assets. The Directors assess each acquisition on the basis of its purchase agreement and the substance of the transaction to 
determine if it is considered to be a business combination in accordance with IFRS 3. To date, such portfolio acquisitions do 
not meet the definition of a business under IFRS 3 since they do not represent integrated sets of activities and assets that are 
capable of being conducted and managed independently, and consequently have been accounted for as an asset acquisition 
under IAS 16. Accordingly, no goodwill is recognised and the costs incurred are capitalised as part of the costs of acquisition 
of the towers.

Key sources of estimation uncertainty
The key assumptions concerning the future, and other key sources of estimation uncertainty at the reporting date, that have a 
significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next financial year, 
are discussed below.

Fair value of derivative financial instruments
Derivative financial instruments are held at fair value through profit and loss. In estimating the fair value of an asset or a 
liability, the Group uses market-observable data to the extent it is available. Where Level 1 inputs are not available, the Group 
engages a third party qualified valuer to perform the valuation. Management works closely with the qualified external valuer 
to establish the appropriate valuation techniques and inputs to the model. Information about the valuation techniques and 
inputs used in determining the fair value of the derivative financial instrument is disclosed in note 25.

Providing for doubtful debts
The Group provides services to business customers on credit terms. Certain debts may not be recovered due to default of our 
customers. The Group uses the IFRS 9 ECL model to measure loss allowances at an amount equal to their lifetime expected 
credit loss. Further detail of the loss allowance calculation is given in note 25.

Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018 75

Financial StatementsGovernance ReportStrategic ReportOverviewNotes to the Financial Statements
For the year ended 31 December 2018 (continued)

3. Segmental reporting 
The following segmental information is presented in a consistent format with management information considered by the 
CEO of each operating segment, and the CEO and CFO of the Group, who are considered to be the chief operating decision 
makers (“CODM”). Operating segments are determined based on geographical location. All operating segments have the 
same business of operating and maintaining telecoms towers and renting space on such towers. Accounting policies are 
applied consistently for all operating segments. The segment operating result used by CODM is Adjusted EBITDA, which is 
defined in note 4.

31 December 2018

Revenue
Gross margin
Adjusted EBITDA
Adjusted EBITDA margin
Financing costs
Interest costs
Foreign exchange differences

31 December 2017

Revenue
Gross margin
Adjusted EBITDA
Adjusted EBITDA margin
Financing costs
Interest costs
Foreign exchange differences

Ghana
US$’000

40,967
66%
22,835
56%

Tanzania
US$’000

149,909
65%
86,153
57%

DRC
US$’000

140,881
60%
72,466
51%

Congo 
Brazzaville
US$’000

24,292
67%
12,107
50%

Total 
operating 
companies 
US$’000

356,049
63%
193,561
54%

Corporate
US$’000

–
–
(15,958)
–

Group
total
US$’000

356,049
63%
177,603
50%

(5,087)
(3,549)

(54,309)
(11,300)

(47,275)
–

(8,367)
(3,305)

(115,038)
(18,154)

26,062
125

(88,976)
(18,029)

(8,636)

(65,609)

(47,275)

(11,672)

(133,192)

26,187

(107,005)

Ghana
US$’000

40,144
56%
17,821
44%

Tanzania
US$’000

141,230
56%
66,839
47%

DRC
US$’000

140,156
55%
66,530
47%

Congo 
Brazzaville
US$’000

23,427
61%
9,783
42%

Total 
operating 
companies 
US$’000

344,957
56%
160,973
47%

Corporate
US$’000

–
–
(15,011)
–

Group
total
US$’000

344,957
56%
145,962
42%

(4,528)
(4,470)

(65,324)
(7,732)

(51,053)
9

(10,760)
6,117

(131,665)
(6,076)

32,137
2,847

(99,528)
(3,229)

(8,998)

(73,056)

(51,044)

(4,643)

(137,741)

34,984

(102,757)

Capital Additions, Depreciation and Amortisation

Year ended  
31 December 2018

Year ended  
31 December 2017

Capital 
Additions
US$’000

19,667
37,867
4,031
57,082

Depreciation 
and 
Amortisation
US$’000

8,038
52,955
11,791
59,408

Capital 
Additions
US$’000

13,228
66,273
10,209
80,887

Depreciation 
and 
Amortisation
US$’000

7,955
51,592
11,651
53,294

118,647

132,192

170,597

124,492

382

375

142

13,210

119,029

132,567

170,739

137,702

31 December 
2018 
Capital 
additions 
US$’000

31 December 
2017 
Capital 
additions 
US$’000

578
1,885
206
3,775

6,444

532
7,611
466
5,212

13,821

Ghana
Tanzania
Congo Brazzaville
Democratic Republic of Congo

Total Operating Companies 

Corporate

Total 

Right-of-use assets

Ghana
Tanzania
Congo Brazzaville
Democratic Republic of Congo

Total

76 Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018

Financial Statements4. Adjusted EBITDA
The segment operating result used by the chief operating decision makers is Adjusted EBITDA.

Management define Adjusted EBITDA as loss for the year, adjusted for loss for the year from discontinued operations, 
additional tax, income tax, finance costs, other gains and losses, investment income, loss on disposal of property, plant and 
equipment, amortisation and impairment of intangible assets, depreciation and impairment of property, plant and equipment, 
deal costs relating to unsuccessful tower acquisition transactions or successful tower acquisition transactions that cannot be 
capitalised and exceptional items. Exceptional items are items that are considered exceptional in nature by management by 
virtue of their size and/or incidence. There are no cash-flow or tax effects to be disclosed. Adjusted EBITDA is reconciled to 
loss before tax as follows:

The Group

Adjusted EBITDA

Adjustments applied to give Adjusted EBITDA
Exceptional items:

Restructuring costs(i)
Litigation costs(ii)
Tanzanian IPO(iii)
Exceptional project costs(iv)

Deal costs(v)
Deal costs for aborted acquisitions
Loss on disposal of assets
Other gains and losses (note 24)
Recharged depreciation(vi)
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment
Amortisation of intangibles
Investment income
Finance costs

Loss before tax 

2018
US$’000

2017
US$’000

177,603

145,962

–
(10,180)
–
(14,655)
(1,493)
–
(5,835)
(16,831)
(805)
(132,955)
(8,373)
951
(107,005)

(2,298)
(917)
(1,481)
(9,780)
–
(3,306)
(2,018)
21,797
(1,209)
(127,148)
(21,778)
706
(102,757)

(119,578)

(104,227)

(i)  Restructuring costs reflect specific actions taken by management to improve the Group’s future profitability and mainly comprise the costs of an operational 

excellence programme where management worked to optimise operational headcount to gain efficiencies and adopt robust internal compliance best 
practices, and have therefore incurred certain severance and office closure costs in 2017. Management consider such costs to be exceptional as they are not 
representative of the trading performance of the Group’s operations. 

(ii)  Litigation costs relate to legal and settlement costs incurred in connection with a previously terminated equity transaction.

(iii) Advisory and other costs relating to the Group’s preparation for the IPO of HTT Infraco, the Group’s primary operating subsidiary in Tanzania.

(iv) Exceptional project costs are in relation to the exploration of strategic options for the Group including, but not limited to, a potential London Stock Exchange 

(LSE) listing.

(v)  Deal costs relating to the exploration of investment opportunities in South Africa, announced as subsequent events in January 2019.

(vi) The Group incurs costs charged to it through a service contract from Helios Towers Africa LLP. Management consider that the depreciation element of the 

charge should be removed from adjusted EBITDA as it is depreciation in nature. 

Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018 77

Financial StatementsGovernance ReportStrategic ReportOverview 
Notes to the Financial Statements
For the year ended 31 December 2018 (continued)

5. Operating profit/(loss)
Operating loss is stated after charging the following:

Cost of inventory expensed
Auditor’s remuneration:
– Audit and audit-related services
– Non-audit fees
Depreciation and amortisation
Cost associated with aborted investments
Staff costs

Group

Company

2018
US$’000

57,195

903
3,631
141,328
–
13,578

2017
US$’000

62,634

1,783
1,847
148,926
3,306
13,852

2018
US$’000

2017
US$’000

–

–

75
–
89
–
1,216

90
–
13,210
–
900

Amortisation of intangible assets is presented in administrative expenses in the statement of profit or loss and other 
comprehensive income.

Non-audit fees in the current year include US$3.1million (2017: US$1.3million) in respect of exceptional project costs (see note 4).

6. Staff costs
Staff costs consist of the following components:

Wages and salaries
Social security costs

Group

Company

2018
US$’000

13,287
291

13,578

2017
US$’000

13,586
266

13,852

2018
US$’000

2017
US$’000

1,203
13

1,216

900
–

900

The average monthly number of employees during the year was made up as follows:

Operations
Legal and regulatory
Administration
Finance
Sales and marketing

7. Directors’ remuneration

Remuneration

Group

Company

2018

115
24
30
74
63

306

2017

146
32
26
76
66

346

2018

2017

1
–
2
2
–

5

1
–
2
2
–

5

Group

Company

2018
US$’000

2,472

2017
US$’000

2,950

2018
US$’000

2,472

2017
US$’000

2,950

The above remuneration information relates to Directors in Helios Towers, Ltd who were recharged to the Group and the 
Company by Helios Towers Africa LLP, a related company. None of the Directors received a contribution to a pension scheme 
in the current or prior year.

78 Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018

Financial Statements8. Investment income

Other interest receivable

9. Finance costs

Foreign exchange differences
Interest costs
Interest costs on lease liabilities
Deferred loan cost amortisation

10. Tax expense

Additional taxes

Group

Company

2018
US$’000

951

2017
US$’000

706

2018
US$’000

–

2017
US$’000

132

Group

Company

2018
US$’000

18,029
73,856
15,120
–

2017
US$’000

3,229
71,608
14,991
12,929

107,005

102,757

2018
US$’000

2017
US$’000

(124)
–
–
–

(124)

(62)
739
–
–

677

Group

Company

2018
US$’000

4,369

2017
US$’000

3,207

2018
US$’000

2017
US$’000

–

–

Though entities in Congo B, Tanzania and DRC have continued to be loss making, minimum tax has been levied based on 
revenue as stipulated by law in these jurisdictions. Ghana became tax paying in the year ended 31 December 2018.

The Company was a Category 2 – Global Business Licence Company (“C2-GBLC”) during the current and preceding financial
periods. C2-GBLC is not subject to any income tax in Mauritius.

The applicable tax rates for the Company’s subsidiaries range from 20% to 40%.

Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018 79

Financial StatementsGovernance ReportStrategic ReportOverviewNotes to the Financial Statements
For the year ended 31 December 2018 (continued)

11. Intangible assets
The Group

Cost
At 1 January 2017
Additions during the year
Effects of foreign currency exchange differences

At 31 December 2017

Additions during the year
Disposals during the year
Effects of foreign currency exchange differences

At 31 December 2018

Amortisation
At 1 January 2017
Charge for year
Effects of foreign currency exchange differences

At 31 December 2017

Charge for year
Disposals during the year
Effects of foreign currency exchange differences

At 31 December 2018

Net book value
At 31 December 2018

At 31 December 2017

At 1 January 2017

Right of first 
refusal
US$’000

Non-compete 
agreement
US$’000

Computer 
software  

and licence
US$’000

Total
US$’000

35,000
–
–

35,000

–
–
–

30,000
–
–

30,000

–
–
–

11,403
3,857
(95)

76,403
3,857
(95)

15,165

80,165

2,953
(41)
(395)

2,953
(41)
(395)

35,000

30,000

17,682

82,682

(17,500)
(5,000)
–

(16,894)
(13,106)
–

(6,453)
(3,672)
421

(40,847)
(21,778)
421

(22,500)

(30,000)

(9,704)

(62,204)

(5,000)
–
–

–
–
–

(3,373)
(2)
303

(8,373)
(2)
303

(27,500)

(30,000)

(12,776)

(70,276)

7,500

12,500

17,500

–

–

13,106

4,906

5,461

4,950

12,406

17,961

35,556

In 2016, alongside the purchase of 967 towers from Airtel Group, a right of first refusal (“ROFR”) agreement was signed  
with Airtel Group in the DRC giving the Group the right of first refusal over build-to-suit towers that Airtel Group wish to 
commission. A payment of US$20 million was made for this right and is amortised on a straight line basis over its exercisable 
period ending on 1 May 2020.

As part of the same transaction, the Group and the Company entered into a non-compete Agreement with Airtel Group 
under which the Group and the Company was granted the right that Airtel will not compete with the Group in DRC and/or 
Congo Brazzaville. The Group and the Company issued shares with a fair value of US$30 million to Airtel Group for this 
right commencing on the date of the agreement (5 May 2016) and terminating 12 consecutive months after first closing 
(7 July 2016). The issuance of these shares was a non-cash transaction.

The Company

Cost
At 1 January 2017
Additions during the year

At 31 December 2017
Additions during the year

At 31 December 2018

Amortisation
At 1 January 2017
Charge for year

At 31 December 2017
Charge for year

At 31 December 2018

Net book value
At 31 December 2018

At 31 December 2017

At 1 January 2017

80 Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018

Non-compete 
agreement 
US$’000

Computer 
software and 
licence 
US$’000

30,000
–

30,000
–

30,000

1,131
142

1,273
170

1,443

Total
 US$’000

31,131
142

31,273
170

31,443

(16,894)
(13,106)

(30,000)
–

(993)
(104)

(1,097)
(89)

(17,887)
(13,210)

(31,097)
(89)

(30,000)

(1,186)

(31,186)

–

–

13,106

257

176

138

257

176

13,244

Financial Statements12a. Property, plant and equipment
The Group

Cost
At 1 January 2017
Additions
Disposals
Reclassifications
Effects of foreign currency exchange 
differences

At 31 December 2017
Additions
Disposals
Effects of foreign currency exchange 
differences

IT equipment 
US$’000

Fixtures and 
fittings 
US$’000

Motor  
vehicles 
US$’000

Site assets 
US$’000

Land
 US$’000

Leasehold 
improvements 
US$’000

Total 
US$’000

3,882
2,102
(13)
–

37

6,008
5,869
–
371

817
120
–
–
15

952
100
–
(26)

4,741
683
(654)
–
(68)

911,548
163,751
(1,754)
754
(3,616)

4,702 1,070,683
105,813
(17,837)
(19,272)

298
(484)
(145)

5,808
–
–
(754)
211

5,265
3,793
(117)
(82)

891
226
–
–
(2)

927,687
166,882
(2,421)
–
(3,423)

1,115 1,088,725
116,077
(18,438)
(19,171)

204
–
(17)

At 31 December 2018

12,248

1,026

4,371 1,139,387

8,859

1,302 1,167,193

Depreciation
At 1 January 2017
Charge for the year
Disposals
Effects of foreign currency exchange 
differences

At 31 December 2017
Charge for the year
Disposals
Effects of foreign currency exchange 
differences

At 31 December 2018

Net book value
At 31 December 2018

At 31 December 2017

At 1 January 2017

(1,912)
(1,168)
13
(147)

(3,214)
(2,572)
–
82

(480)
(206)
–
(11)

(697)
(197)
–
32

(2,725)
(719)
561
80

(267,189)
(113,663)
816
4,133

(2,803)
(683)
484
87

(375,903)
(120,523)
9,557
6,420

(5,704)

(862)

(2,915)

(480,449)

–
–
–
–

–
–
–
–

–

(241)
(168)
–
1

(272,547)
(115,924)
1,390
4,056

(408)
(219)
–
7

(383,025)
(124,194)
10,041
6,628

(620)

(490,550)

6,544

2,794

1,970

164

255

337

1,456

1,899

2,016

658,938

694,780

644,359

8,859

5,265

5,808

682

707

650

676,643

705,700

655,140

At 31 December 2018, the Group had US$74.5 million (2017: US$111.3 million) of expenditure recognised in the carrying amount 
of items of site assets that were in the course of construction. On completion of the construction, they will remain within site 
assets balance. 

12b. Right-of-use assets

The Group

Right of use assets by class of underlying assets
Land
Buildings
Motor vehicles

Depreciation charge for right of use assets
Land
Buildings
Motor vehicles

2018
US$’000

2017

(Restated  
IFRS 16)
US$’000

101,617
 2,169
–

100,639
 4,223
 121

 103,786

104,983

7,122
1,519
120

8,761

 8,080
 2,698
 446

 11,224

Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018 81

Financial StatementsGovernance ReportStrategic ReportOverviewNotes to the Financial Statements
For the year ended 31 December 2018 (continued)

13. Investments
The Group
The Group’s investment of US$132,000 (2017: US$132,000) relates to an interest in Helios Towers Africa LLP. The Group  
holds 91% of the voting rights of Helios Towers Africa LLP. The Directors do not consider that the Group has control over the 
operation of Helios Towers Africa LLP as it is a limited liability partnership and has no access to returns from the investment. 
Therefore the investment has been accounted for as investment at cost. 

The Company

Cost
At 1 January and 31 December

The subsidiary companies are as follows: 

2018 
US$’000

2017
 US$’000

430,677

430,677

Effective shareholding  
2018

Effective shareholding  
2017

Name of subsidiaries

Country of incorporation

Direct %

Indirect %

Direct %

Indirect %

Helios Towers Ghana Limited
HTG Managed Services Limited
HTA Group, Ltd
HTA Holdings Ltd
Helios Towers DRC S.A.R.L.
HT DRC Infraco S.A.R.L.
Helios Towers Tanzania Limited
HTT Infraco Limited
HT Congo Brazzaville Holdco Limited 
HT Congo SARLU 
HT Gabon Holdco Limited (Dormant)
HT Chad Mauritius Holdco Limited 
HT Chad SARLU (Dormant)
Towers NL Coöperatief U.A. 
HTA (UK) Partner Ltd
HTA Equity GP Ltd
McRory Investment B.V.
McTam International 1 B.V.

Ghana
Ghana
Mauritius
Mauritius
Democratic Republic of Congo
Democratic Republic of Congo
Tanzania
Tanzania
Mauritius
Congo Brazzaville
Mauritius
Mauritius
Chad
The Netherlands
United Kingdom
Cayman Islands
The Netherlands
The Netherlands

60%
–
–
100%
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
100%
100%
–
–

40%
100%
100%
–
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
–
–
100%
100%

60%
–
–
100%
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
100%
100%
–
–

40%
100%
100%
–
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
–
–
100%
100%

All subsidiaries were incorporated in prior years. Helios Towers, Ltd or its subsidiaries have subscribed to the majority of  
the shares as shown above. The consideration paid for these shares on incorporation was minimal. The Directors are of the 
opinion that the investments in subsidiaries are fairly stated and no impairment is required. The registered office address of all 
subsidiaries is included in Appendix 1.

Helios Towers Ghana Limited, HTA Holdings Ltd, Helios Towers DRC S.A.R.L., Helios Towers Tanzania Limited, HT Congo 
Brazzaville Holdco Limited, HT Chad Mauritius Holdco Limited, Towers NL Coöperatief U.A., McRory Investment B.V., 
McTam International 1 B.V. and HTA (UK) Partner Ltd are intermediate holding companies.

HTA Equity GP, Ltd acts as a general partner. The principal activities of HTG Managed Services Limited, HT DRC Infraco 
S.A.R.L., HTT Infraco Limited, and HT Congo SARLU are the building and maintenance of telecommunications towers to 
provide space on those towers to wireless telecommunication service providers in Africa. HT Chad SARLU and HT Gabon 
Holdco Limited have ceased trading during the prior years.

82 Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018

Financial Statements14. Inventories

Inventories

Group

2018 
US$’000

10,265

2017 
US$’000

9,538

Inventories are primarily made up of fuel stocks and raw materials. The impact of inventories recognised as an expense during 
the year in respect of continuing operations was US$57.2 million (2017: US$62.6 million). 

There is no material difference between the carrying value of inventories and their net realisable value.

15. Trade and other receivables

Trade receivables
Loss allowance

Trade receivable from related parties

Other receivables from related parties
Other receivables
VAT & Withholding tax receivable

Group

Company

2018 
US$’000

72,030
(6,544)

65,486
10,035

75,521
–
21,400
5,329

2017 
US$’000

72,996
(4,725)

68,271
9,436

77,707
–
23,027
7,757

2018 
US$’000

2017 
US$’000

–
–

–
–

–
–

–
–

–
494,451
26
–

–
482,783
19
–

102,250

108,491

494,477

482,802

The Group measures the loss allowance for trade receivables and trade receivables from related parties at an amount equal to 
lifetime expected credit losses (“ECL”). The expected credit losses on trade receivables are estimated using a provision matrix 
by reference to past default experience of the debtor and an analysis of the debtor’s current financial position, adjusted for 
factors that are specific to the debtors, general economic conditions of the industry in which the debtors operate and an 
assessment of both the current as well as the forecast direction of conditions at the reporting date.

There has been no change in the estimation techniques or significant assumptions made during the current reporting period.
Interest can be charged on past due debtors. The normal credit period of services is 30 days. 

Other receivables mainly comprise of accrued income, and sundry receivables. 

Of the trade receivables balance at 31 December 2018, 55% (31 December 2017: 67%) is due from four of the Group’s largest 
customers. The Group does not hold any collateral or other credit enhancements over these balances nor does it have a legal 
right of offset against any amounts owed by the Group to the counterparty. The average trade receivables collection period is 
40 days (31 December 2017: 44 days). 

Debtor days are calculated as trade receivables and receivables from related parties, less loss allowance, less amounts 
invoiced but not yet due (2018: US$36.2 million, 2017: US$35.2 million), relative to average monthly revenue for the last 
quarter (2018: US$90.3 million, 2017: US$88.4 million).

Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018 83

Financial StatementsGovernance ReportStrategic ReportOverviewNotes to the Financial Statements
For the year ended 31 December 2018 (continued)

15. Trade and other receivables (continued)
Ageing analysis of trade receivables not impaired:

Not yet due
1–30 days
30–60 days
60–90 days
90+ days

Group

2018 
US$’000

2017 
US$’000

36,169
14,609
7,469
5,172
12,102

75,521

35,248
10,940
14,230
7,680
9,609

77,707

In determining the recoverability of a trade receivable, the Group considers any change in the credit quality of the trade 
receivable from the date credit was initially granted up to the reporting date. The Directors consider that the carrying amount 
of trade and other receivables is approximately equal to their fair value.

Terms and conditions attached to receivable balances due by related parties and by the non-controlling interest are disclosed 
in note 23.

16. Prepayments

Prepayments

Prepayments are primarily comprised of advance payments to suppliers.

17. Cash and cash equivalents

Bank balances
Short-term deposits

18. Share capital

Authorised, issued and fully paid
Ordinary share capital class A of US$1
Ordinary share capital class C of US$100
Ordinary share capital class D of US$1
Ordinary share capital class G of US$1
Ordinary share capital class H of US$100
Ordinary share capital class Z of US$100

Group

Company

2018 
US$’000

2017 
US$’000

2018 
US$’000

2017 
US$’000

16,225

23,403

334

221

Group

Company

2018 
US$’000

57,835
31,152

88,987

2017 
US$’000

49,519
70,181

119,700

2018 
US$’000

4,555
–

4,555

2017 
US$’000

18,314
–

18,314

Group and Company

2018

Number 
of shares

390,410,138
100
100
518,714,176
100
100

US$’000

390,410
10
–
518,714
10
10

2017

Number 
of shares

390,410,138
100
100
518,714,176
100
100

US$’000

390,410
10
–
518,714
10
10

909,124,714

909,154

909,124,714

909,154

The Class A Shares and Class G Shares rank equally with each other and senior to the Class C, Class D, Class H, and Class Z 
shares as to redemption proceeds and any other form of distribution or return of capital. Class A and G Shares have voting 
rights whilst the others have no voting rights. Class H and Class Z shares also have dividend rights.

84 Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018

Financial Statements19. Trade and other payables

Trade payables
Amounts payable to related parties
Deferred income
Deferred consideration
Other payables and accruals
VAT & Withholding tax payable

Group

Company

2018 
US$’000

2017 
US$’000

8,352
263
48,071
8,246
64,025
20,795

11,612
1,617
40,482
12,946
69,214
11,453

149,752

147,324

2018
US$’000

–
46,584
–
–
4,978
–

51,562

2017 
US$’000

–
2,082
–
–
8,727
–

10,809

Trade payables and accruals principally comprise amounts outstanding for trade purchases and ongoing costs. The average 
credit period taken for trade purchases is 16 days (2017: 24 days). Payable days are calculated as trade payables and payables 
to related parties and the non-controlling interest, divided by cost of sales plus administration expenses less staff costs and 
depreciation. No interest is charged on trade payables. The Group has financial risk management policies in place to ensure 
that all payables are paid within the pre-agreed credit terms. Amounts payable to related parties are unsecured, interest free 
and repayable on demand. 

Deferred income primarily relates to site equipment revenue which is billed in advance.

Deferred consideration relates to consideration that is payable in the future for the purchase of certain tower assets in DRC 
and Congo B following the Airtel deal if certain conditions are met to enable transfer of ownership of the assets to Helios 
Towers, Ltd.

Other payables and accruals consist of general operational accruals, accrued capital items, and goods received but not 
yet invoiced.

Trade and other payables are classified as financial liabilities and measured at amortised cost. These are initially recognised at 
fair value and subsequently at amortised cost. These are expected to be settled within a year.

The Directors consider the carrying amount of trade payables approximates to their fair value.

20. Loans

US$ 600 million 9.125% senior notes 2022 
US$ 100 million term loan facility 2022
Total borrowings 

Current 
Non-current 

31 December 
2018 
US$’000

31 December 
2017 
US$’000

602,852
25,192
628,044

17,254
610,790

598,354
–
598,354

17,254
581,100

628,044

598,354

On 8 March 2017, HTA Group Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Helios Towers, Ltd, issued US$600 million of 9.125% 
bonds due 2022 which are listed on the Irish Stock Exchange. Interest is payable semi-annually beginning on 8 September 
2017. The bonds are guaranteed on a senior basis by the Company, and certain of the Helios Towers, Ltd subsidiaries. Loans 
are classified as financial liabilities and measured at amortised cost. On 22 October 2018, HTA Group Ltd, a wholly owned 
subsidiary of the Group, signed a US$100 million term loan facility agreement. At 31 December 2018, US$25.0 million was 
drawn, and US$0.2 million of interest accrued. The term loan is a bullet repayment, senior unsecured facility, with an interest 
rate of LIBOR plus 4.2%. The term loan is guaranteed by the Company.

The current portion of borrowings relates to accrued interest on the bonds, which is payable in March 2019.

Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018 85

Financial StatementsGovernance ReportStrategic ReportOverviewNotes to the Financial Statements
For the year ended 31 December 2018 (continued)

21. Lease liabilities

Short-term lease liabilities
Land
Buildings
Motor vehicles

Long-term lease liabilities
Land
Buildings

2018 
US$’000

2017 
US$’000

18,802
757
–

19,559

18,828
1,524
100

20,452

2018 
US$’000

2017 
US$’000

97,378
1,342

98,720

94,088
2,009

96,097

The below undiscounted cash flows do not include escalations based on CPI or other indexes which change over time. 
Renewal options are considered on a case by case basis with judgements around the lease term being based on 
management’s contractual rights and their current intentions.

The total cash paid on leases in the year was US$25.5 million (2017: US$25.8 million).

The profile of the outstanding undiscounted contractual payments fall due as follows:

The Group

31 December 2018

31 December 2017

Within 
1 year 
US$’000

2–5 years
US$’000

5+ years 
US$’000

Total 
US$’000

19,559

71,640

471,123

562,322

20,452

72,120

443,261

535,833

22. Uncompleted performance obligations
The table below represent uncompleted performance obligations at the end of the reporting period. This is total revenue 
which is contractually due to the Group, subject to the performance of the obligation of the Group related to these revenues.

Total contracted revenue

2018 
US$’000

2017 
US$’000

 3,080,871 3,101,429

Contracted Revenue 
The following table provides our total contracted revenue by country under agreements with our customers as of  
31 December, 2018 for each of the four years from 2019 to 2022, with local currency amounts converted at the applicable spot 
rate for US dollars on 31 December, 2018 held constant. Our contracted revenue calculation for each year presented assumes: 
(i) no escalation in fee rates, (ii) no increases in sites or tenancies other than our committed colocations described elsewhere 
in these financial statements, (iii) our customers do not utilise any cancellation allowances set forth in their MLAs and (iv) our 
customers do not terminate MLAs early for any reason. 

(US$’000s)

Tanzania 
DRC 
Congo Brazzaville 
Ghana

Total

86 Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018

Year ended 31 December

2019

2020

2021

2022

159,397
150,145
22,834
37,371

159,345
157,721
21,875
36,714

158,969
157,669
17,059
34,704

155,987
155,846
16,954
30,478

369,747

375,655

368,401

359,265

Financial Statements23. Related party transactions
The Group
Balances and transactions between the Company and its subsidiaries, which are related parties, have been eliminated on 
consolidation and are not disclosed in this note. 

During the year, the Group companies entered into the following commercial transactions with related parties: 

Millicom Holding B.V. and subsidiaries
Vodacom Group Limited and subsidiaries

Millicom Holding B.V. and subsidiaries(i)
Vodacom Group Limited and subsidiaries(ii)
Helios Towers Africa LLP

2018

2017

Income from 
towers 
US$’000

Purchase  
of goods 
US$’000

Income from 
towers 
US$’000

68,070
–

250
–

60,182
72,167

Purchase  
of goods 
US$’000

5,194
2,588

2018

2017

Amount owed 
by US$’000

Amount owed 
to US$’000

Amount owed 
by US$’000

Amount owed 
to US$’000

7,988
–
2,047

263
–
–

7,366
2,070
–

228
–
1,389

(i)  Millicom Holding B.V is a shareholder of Helios Towers Africa, Ltd.
(ii)  Until October 2017, Vodacom Tanzania Ltd was the non-controlling interest holder in Helios Towers Tanzania Ltd. 

During the year, the Group received advisory services from Helios Towers Africa LLP, an entity in which the Group has no 
economic benefits for which fees of US$15.7 million (2017: US$17.0 million) were incurred. 

At the year end, there was a receivable of US$2.0 million (2017: payable of US$1.4 million) from Helios Towers Africa LLP. 
Amounts outstanding to related parties carry an interest charge ranging from 0% to 15%. Total compensation of key 
management for 2018 amounted to US$2.5 million (2017: US$3.0 million) which was recharged by Helios Towers Africa LLP.

The Company

Amounts receivable from related parties
Amounts payable to related parties

2018 
US$’000

2017 
US$’000

502,128
46,584

482,783
2,082

Other transactions with related parties in the year includes technical and management fee charges for services provided to 
the subsidiary companies. Amounts receivable from, and payable to, related parties are repayable on demand. Compensation 
of key management personnel are disclosed in note 7. 

Intercontinental Trust Limited is considered as a related party to the Company as it provided company secretary services.

Name of related party

Relationship

2018
Transactions 
during the 
year 
US$’000

2017
Transactions 
during the 
year 
US$’000

2018
Balance 
due at year 
end 
US$’000

2017
Balance 
due at year 
end 
US$’000

Type of  

transaction

Intercontinental Trust Limited

Company secretary

Fees

44

40

–

–

24. Other gains and losses
The Group 

Fair value loss/(gain) on derivative financial instruments

2018 
US$’000

16,831

16,831

2017 
US$’000

(21,797)

(21,797)

Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018 87

Financial StatementsGovernance ReportStrategic ReportOverviewNotes to the Financial Statements
For the year ended 31 December 2018 (continued)

25. Financial instruments
Financial instruments held by the Group at fair value had the following effect on profit and loss:

Derivative financial assets
Change in Fair value of derivative financial instruments

2018 
US$’000

2017 
US$’000

16,831

(21,797)

Fair value measurements
The information set out below provides an analysis of financial instruments that are measured subsequent to initial recognition 
at fair value, grouped into Levels 1 to 3 based on the degree to which the fair value is observable:
•  Level 1 fair value measurements are those derived from quoted prices (unadjusted) in active markets for identical assets or 

liabilities;

•   Level 2 fair value measurements are those derived from inputs other than quoted prices included within Level 1 that are 

observable for the asset or liability, either directly (i.e. as prices) or indirectly (i.e. derived from prices); and

•  Level 3 fair value measurements are those derived from valuation techniques that include inputs for the asset or liability 

that are not based on observable market data (unobservable inputs).

Some of the Group’s financial assets and financial liabilities are measured at fair value at the end of each reporting period.  
For all other assets and liabilities the carrying value is approximately equal to the fair value. The information set out below 
provides information about how the fair values of these financial assets and financial liabilities are determined (in particular, 
the valuation technique(s) and inputs used).

For those financial instruments measured at fair value, the Group has categorised them into a three level fair value hierarchy 
based on the priority of the inputs to the valuation technique in accordance with IFRS 13. The hierarchy gives the highest 
priority to quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1) and the lowest priority to unobservable 
inputs (Level 3). If the inputs used to measure fair value fall within different levels of the hierarchy, the category level is based 
on the lowest priority level input that is significant to the fair value measurement of the instrument in its entirety. There are no 
financial instruments which have been categorised as Level 1. There were no transfers between the levels in the year.

Capital risk management
The Group manages its capital to ensure that entities in the Group will be able to continue as a going concern while 
maximising the return to stakeholders through the optimisation of the debt and equity balance. The capital structure of  
the Group consists of debt, which includes borrowings disclosed in notes 20 and 21, cash and cash equivalents and equity 
attributable to equity holders of the parent, comprising issued capital, reserves and retained earnings as disclosed in the 
statement of changes in equity.

Gearing ratio
The Group keeps its capital structure under review. The gearing ratio at the year end is as follows:

Debt (net of issue costs)
Cash and cash equivalents

Net debt
Equity attributable to the owners

Debt is defined as long and short-term borrowings, as detailed in notes 20 and 21.

Equity includes all capital and reserves of the Group attributable to equity holders of the parent.

2018 
US$’000

2017 
(Restated 
IFRS 16)
US$’000

746,323
(88,987)

714,903
(119,700)

657,336
121,705

595,203
251,598

540.1%

236.6%

88 Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018

Financial Statements 
25. Financial instruments (continued) 
Externally imposed capital requirements
The Group is not subject to externally imposed capital requirements.

Significant accounting policies
Details of the significant accounting policies and methods adopted, including the criteria for recognition, the basis of 
measurement and the basis on which income and expenses are recognised, in respect of each class of financial asset, 
financial liability and equity instrument are disclosed in note 2 to the financial statements.

Categories of financial instruments

Financial assets
Financial assets at amortised cost:
Cash and cash equivalents
Trade and other receivables 
Fair value through profit or loss:
Derivative financial assets

Financial liabilities 
Amortised cost:
Trade and other payables
Finance lease liabilities
Loans 

Group

Company

2018 
US$’000

2017 
US$’000

2018 
US$’000

2017 
US$’000

88,987
96,921

119,700
100,734

4,555
494,477

18,314
482,802

7,086

23,917

–

–

192,994

244,351

499,032

501,116

80,886
118,279
628,044

95,389
116,549
598,354

827,209

810,292

51,562
–
–

51,562

10,809
–
–

10,809

At 31 December 2018, the Group had US$Nil (2017: US$Nil) of cash pledged as collateral for financial liabilities.

Financial risk management objectives and policies
The Group’s finance function provides services to the business, coordinates access to domestic and international financial 
markets, and monitors and manages the financial risks relating to the operations of the Group through internal risk reports 
which analyse exposures by degree and magnitude of risks. These risks include market risk (including currency risk, fair value 
interest rate risk and price risk), credit risk, liquidity risk and cash flow interest rate risk. The Group seeks to minimise the 
effects of these risks by using derivative financial instruments to hedge these risk exposures. The use of financial derivatives is 
governed by the Group’s policies approved by the Board of Directors, which provide written principles on foreign exchange 
risk, interest rate risk, credit risk, the use of financial derivatives and non-derivative financial instruments. Compliance with 
policies and exposure limits is reviewed by the Board of Directors regularly. The Group does not enter into or trade financial 
instruments, including derivative financial instruments, for speculative purposes.

Key financial risks and exposures are monitored through a monthly report to the Board of Directors, together with an annual 
Board review of corporate treasury matters. The Group and the Company have exposure to sterling (“GBP”) fluctuations, 
however this is not considered material.

Financial risk
The principal financial risks to which the Group is exposed through its activities are risks of changes in foreign currency 
exchange rates and interest rates.

Foreign currency risk management
The Group undertakes transactions denominated in foreign currencies; consequently exposures to exchange rate fluctuations 
arise. The Group’s main currency exposures were to the Ghanaian Cedi (“GHS”), Tanzanian Shilling (“TZS”) and Central African 
Franc (“XAF”) through its main operating subsidiaries. 

During the year ended 31 December 2018, the Group did not enter into any foreign currency hedging contracts, as 
management considered foreign exchange risk to be at an acceptable level due to the natural hedge existing in the Group as 
a result of having both US Dollar, TZS, GHS and XAF denominated revenues and costs, and minimal foreign denominated 
third party debt levels within the business.

Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018 89

Financial StatementsGovernance ReportStrategic ReportOverviewNotes to the Financial Statements
For the year ended 31 December 2018 (continued)

25. Financial instruments (continued)
The carrying amounts of the Group’s foreign currency denominated monetary assets and monetary liabilities at the reporting 
date are as follows:

Liabilities

Assets

New Ghana Cedi
Tanzanian Shilling
Central African Franc

2018 
US$’000

12,732
32,785
4,165

49,682

2017 
US$’000

16,204
176,874
14,314

207,392

2018 
US$’000

21,022
63,919
10,646

95,587

2017 
US$’000

22,540
71,887
20,598

115,025

Foreign currency sensitivity analysis
The following table details the Group’s sensitivity to a 10% increase and decrease in US Dollar against GHS, XAF and TZS.  
10% is the sensitivity rate used when reporting foreign currency risk internally to key management personnel and represents 
management’s assessment of the reasonably possible change in foreign exchange rates. The sensitivity analysis includes only 
outstanding foreign currency denominated monetary items and adjusts their translation at the year-end for a 10% change in 
foreign currency rates. A positive number below indicates an increase in profit and other equity where US Dollar weakens 10% 
against the GHS, XAF or TZS. For a 10% strengthening of US Dollar against the GHS, XAF or TZS, there would be a 
comparable impact on the profit and other equity. 

Central African Franc impact

New Ghana Cedi impact

Tanzania Shillings impact

2018 
US$’000

2017 
US$’000

2018 
US$’000

2017 
US$’000

2018 
US$’000

2017 
US$’000

Impact on profit or loss

(648)

(628)

(829)

(634)

(3,113)

10,499

This is mainly attributable to the exposure outstanding on GHS, XAF and TZS receivables and payables in the Group at the 
reporting date.

In management’s opinion, the sensitivity analysis is unrepresentative of the inherent foreign exchange risk for the Group or the 
Company as the year-end exposure does not reflect the exposure during the year. The Company is not significantly exposed to 
foreign currency fluctuations as most of its financial assets and financial liabilities are denominated in its functional currency.

Credit risk management
Credit risk refers to the risk that a counterparty will default on its contractual obligations resulting in financial loss to the 
Group. The Group has adopted a policy of only dealing with creditworthy counterparties and obtaining sufficient collateral 
where appropriate, as a means of mitigating the risk of financial loss from defaults. The Group uses publicly available financial 
information and other information provided by the counterparty (where appropriate) to rate its major customers. As of 
31 December 2018, the Group has a concentration risk with regards to four of its largest customers and its related parties and 
the Company has a concentration risk with regards to the receivable balances with related parties. The Group’s exposure and 
the credit ratings of its counterparties and related parties are continuously monitored and the aggregate value of credit risk 
within the business is spread amongst a number of approved counterparties. Credit exposure is controlled by counterparty 
limits that are reviewed and approved by management. The carrying amount of the financial assets recorded in the financial 
statements, which is net of impairment losses, represents the Group’s and the Company’s exposure to credit risk.

The Group uses the IFRS 9 ECL model to measure loss allowances at an amount equal to their lifetime expected credit loss.

In order to minimise credit risk, the Group has categorise exposures according to their degree of risk of default. The credit 
rating information is based on a range of qualitative and quantitative factors that are deemed to be indicative of risk of default, 
and range from 1 (lowest risk of irrecoverability) to 5 (greatest risk of irrecoverability). Loss allowances for trade receivables 
from related parties held by the Company are deemed immaterial.

The below table shows the Group’s trade and other receivable balance and associated loss allowances in each Group credit 
rating category.

Group Rating

Risk of impairment

1
2
3
4
5

Total

Remote risk
Low risk
Medium risk
High risk
Impaired

Group 31 December 2018

Gross 
exposure 
US$’000

52,493
 20,610 
 3,851 
 903 
 4,208 

Loss 
allowance 
US$’000

Net exposure 
US$’000

(225)
(898) 
(631)
(582) 
(4,208) 

 52,268 
 19,712 
 3,220
 321
–

 82,065 

(6,544) 

 75,521

90 Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018

Financial Statements 
25. Financial instruments (continued)
Liquidity risk management
The Group has long-term debt financing through Senior Loan notes of US$600 million due for repayment in March 2022. The 
Group has a revolving credit facility of US$60 million for funding working capital requirements. As at 31 December 2018 and 
31 December 2017 the facility was undrawn and is available until March 2021. The Group has remained compliant during the 
year to 31 December 2018 with all the covenants contained in the Senior Credit facility. In October 2018, HTA Group Ltd, a 
wholly owned subsidiary of the Group, signed a US$100 million term loan agreement. As at 31 December, 2018 US$25 million 
was drawn.

Ultimate responsibility for liquidity risk management rests with the Board of Directors. The Group manages liquidity risk by 
maintaining adequate reserves and banking facilities and continuously monitoring forecast and actual cash flows including 
consideration of appropriate sensitivities. 

Non-derivative financial liabilities
The following tables detail the Group’s and the Company’s remaining contractual maturity for its non-derivative financial 
liabilities. The tables have been drawn up based on the undiscounted cash flows of financial liabilities based on the earliest 
date on which the Group can be required to pay. 

The table includes principal cash flows.

The Group

31 December 2018
Non-interest bearing
Fixed interest rate instruments

31 December 2017
Non-interest bearing
Fixed interest rate instruments

The Company

31 December 2018
Non-interest bearing

31 December 2017
Non-interest bearing

Within 
1 year 
US$’000

152,569
–

152,569

147,324
–

147,324

1–2 years
US$’000

2–5 years 
US$’000

5+ years 
US$’000

Total 
US$’000

–
–

–

–
–

–

–
–

–

–
–

–

–
610,790

152,569
610,790

610,790

763,359

–
598,354

147,324
598,354

598,354

745,678

Within  
1 year 
US$’000

Total 
US$’000

51,562

51,562

10,809

10,809

The Group and the Company manage liquidity risk by maintaining adequate reserves and banking facilities and by 
continuously monitoring forecast and actual cash flows and matching the maturity profiles of financial assets and liabilities.

Non-derivative financial assets
The following table details the Group’s and the Company’s expected maturity for other non-derivative financial assets. The 
tables below have been drawn up based on the undiscounted contractual maturities of the financial assets except where the 
Group and the Company anticipates that the cash flow will occur in a different period.

The Group

31 December 2018
Non-interest bearing
Fixed interest rate instruments

31 December 2017
Non-interest bearing
Fixed interest rate instruments

Within  
1 year 
US$’000

185,908
–

185,908

220,434
–

220,434

1–2 years 
US$’000

2–5 years 
US$’000

5+ years
US$’000

Total 
US$’000

–
–

–

–
–

–

–
–

–

–
–

–

–
–

–

–
–

–

185,908
–

185,908

220,434
–

220,434

Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018 91

Financial StatementsGovernance ReportStrategic ReportOverviewNotes to the Financial Statements
For the year ended 31 December 2018 (continued)

25. Financial instruments (continued)
The Company

31 December 2018
Non-interest bearing

31 December 2017
Non-interest bearing

Within  
1 year 
US$’000

Total 
US$’000

506,709

506,709

500,628

500,628

Derivative financial instruments assets:
The following table details the Group’s liquidity analysis for its derivative financial instruments based on contractual maturities. 
The table has been drawn up based on the undiscounted net cash inflows and outflows on derivative instruments that settle 
on a net basis, and the undiscounted gross inflows and outflows on those derivatives that require gross settlement. When the 
amount payable or receivable is not fixed, the amount disclosed has been determined by reference to the projected interest 
rates as illustrated by the yield curves existing at the reporting date.

The derivatives represent the fair value of the put and call options embedded within the terms of the notes. The call options 
give the Group the right to redeem the bond instruments at a date prior to the maturity date (8 March 2022), in certain 
circumstances and at a premium over the initial notional amount.

The put option provides the holders with the right (and the Group with an obligation) to settle the notes before their 
redemption date in the event of a change in control (as defined in the terms of the notes, which also includes a major asset 
sale), and at a premium over the initial notional amount. The options are fair valued using an option pricing model that is 
commonly used by market participants to value such options and makes the maximum use of market inputs, relying as little as 
possible on the entity’s specific inputs and making reference to the fair value of similar instruments in the market. Thus, it is 
considered a Level 3 financial instrument in the fair value hierarchy of IFRS 13.

The key assumptions in determining the fair value are, the initial fair value of the bond (assumed to be priced at 100% on  
issue date), the credit spread (derived using Bloomberg analytics at issuance and based on credit market data thereafter), the 
yield curve and the probabilities of a change in control (0% assumed) and a major asset sale (0% assumed). The probabilities 
relating to change of control and major asset sale represent a reasonable expectation of those events occurring that would be 
held by a market participant.

The Group

31 December 2018
Net settled:
Embedded derivatives

31 December 2017
Net settled:
Embedded derivatives

Within  
1 year 
US$’000

1–2 years 
US$’000

2–5 years 
US$’000

5+ years
US$’000

Total 
US$’000

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

(7,086)

(7,086)

(23,917)

(23,917)

–

–

–

–

(7,086)

(7,086)

(23,917)

(23,917)

Interest rate risk management
The Group is exposed to interest rate risk because entities in the Group borrow funds at both fixed and floating interest rates. 
The risk is managed by the Group by maintaining an appropriate mix between fixed and floating rate borrowings. Hedging 
activities are evaluated regularly to align with interest rate views and defined risk appetite, ensuring the most cost-effective 
hedging strategies are applied. 

The Group’s exposure to interest rates on financial assets and financial liabilities are detailed in notes 20 and 21.

The Company is not exposed to interest rate variations as its financial assets and financial liabilities are non-interest bearing.

92 Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018

Financial Statements26. Contingencies
In the year ended 31 December 2015, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s National Tax Services issued an assessment against 
the Group for the financial years ended 31 December 2014 and 31 December 2015 of approximately US$3.4 million including 
interest and penalties. Also, in the year ended 31 December 2016, the Ghana Revenue Authority issued an assessment against 
the Company for the financial years ended 31 December 2010 to 31 December 2012 of approximately US$1.0 million for unpaid 
direct and indirect taxes. 

The Directors have appealed against these assessments and together with their advisors are in discussion with the tax 
authorities to bring the matters to conclusions based on the facts.

The Directors, having taken advice as appropriate, believe that there is no merit to these assessments and accordingly will 
defend their position vigorously and do not believe there will be a material impact to the Group.

The Group did not make a provision in respect of these matters for the year ended 31 December 2018 or 31 December 2017.

27. Net debt

External debt
Lease liabilities
Derivative financial instruments
Net cash and cash equivalents

Net debt

The movement in net debt is as follows:

2018

Net cash and cash equivalents

External debt
Lease liabilities
Derivative financial instruments

Net debt

2017

Net cash and cash equivalents

External debt
Lease liabilities
Derivative financial instruments

Net debt

2018 
US$’000

2017 
US$’000

(628,044)
(118,279)
–
88,987

(596,418)
(116,549)
(1,936)
119,700

(657,336)

(595,203)

At 1 January 
2018 
US$’000

Cash flows 
US$’000

Other(1)
US$’000

At 
31 December 
2018 
US$’000

119,700

(29,548)

(1,165)

88,987

(596,418)
(116,549)
(1,936)

(25,000)
10,422
–

(6,626)
(12,152)
1,936

(628,044)
(118,279)
–

(714,903)

(14,578)

(16,842)

(746,323)

(595,203)

(44,126)

(18,007)

(657,336)

At 1 January 
2017 
US$’000

Cash flows 
US$’000

Other 
US$’000

At 
31 December 
2017 
US$’000

133,737

(14,173)

136

119,700

(401,149)
(111,045)
–

(167,938)
11,675
–

(27,331)
(17,179)
(1,936)

(596,418)
(116,549)
(1,936)

(512,194)

(156,263)

(46,446)

(714,903)

(378,457)

(170,436)

(46,310)

(595,203)

(1)  Other includes foreign exchange and interest movements.

External debt is the total debt owed to commercial banks and institutional investors.

28. Subsequent events
In January 2019, the Group entered a shareholder agreement with Vulatel (Pty) Ltd to form a new legal entity named Helios 
Towers South Africa Holdings (Pty) Ltd. The Group will hold 66% of the share capital of this entity, with Vulatel retaining the 
remaining 34%. The Group has also signed a sale and purchase agreement (“SPA”) with SA Towers (Pty) Ltd (“SA Towers”) 
for Helios Towers South Africa Holdings (Pty) Ltd to acquire 89.5% of the share capital of a newly incorporated subsidiary of 
SA Towers, named SA Towers NewCo (Pty) Ltd. In the short to medium term consideration for these transactions is expected 
to be up to US$70 million. The Group will control both of these entities and as such, following completion of the transactions, 
their results will be consolidated into the Group in accordance with the Basis of Consolidation set out on page 67.

Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018 93

Financial StatementsGovernance ReportStrategic ReportOverviewAppendix 1

Name of subsidiaries

HTA Holdings, Ltd

HTA Group, Ltd

Registered office address

Level 3, Alexander House, 35 Cybercity, Ebene, Mauritius

Level 3, Alexander House, 35 Cybercity, Ebene, Mauritius

HTA (UK) Partner Ltd

5 Merchant Square, 10th Floor, London, W2 1AS

HT Congo Brazzaville Holdco Limited 

Level 3, Alexander House, 35 Cybercity, Ebene, Mauritius

Helios Towers Congo Brazzaville SASU 100 ter, Boulevard Marechal Lyautey, Brazzaville, Republic of Congo

Helios Towers DRC SARL

1st Floor, Tower LE 130, 130B, Avenue Kwango, Kinshasa, Gombe, DRC

HT DRC Infraco SARL

1st Floor, Tower LE 130, 130B, Avenue Kwango, Kinshasa, Gombe, DRC

Helios Towers Tanzania Limited

Ground Floor, Peninsula House, Plot No. 251 Toure Drive, P.O. Box 105297, 
Oysterbay, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

HTT Infraco Limited

Ground Floor, Peninsula House, Plot No. 251 Toure Drive, P.O. Box 105297, 
Oysterbay, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

HT Chad SARLU

Quartier Chagoua, Avenue du 10 Octobre, BP 6572, N’djamena, Chad

Helios Chad Holdoco Limited

Level 3, Alexander House, 35 Cybercity, Ebene, Mauritius

HTA Equity GP Ltd

Level 3, Alexander House, 35 Cybercity, Ebene, Mauritius

HT Gabon Holdco Limited

Level 3, Alexander House, 35 Cybercity, Ebene, Mauritius

Helios Towers Ghana Limited

No.31, Akosombo Road, Airport Residential Area, Private Mail Bag CT 409, 
Cantonments, Accra, Ghana

HTG Managed Services Limited

No.31, Akosombo Road, Airport Residential Area, Private Mail Bag CT 409, 
Cantonments, Accra, Ghana

Towers NL Coöperatief U.A.

Prins Bernhardplein 200, 1097JB Amsterdam

McTam International 1 B.V.

Oslo 1, 2993LD Barendrecht

McRory Investment B.V.

Oslo 1, 2993LD Barendrecht

94 Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018

Financial StatementsOfficers and professional advisors

Directors
Anja Blumert 
Carlos Reyes Lopez (appointed 17 May 2018) 
Colin Curvey (resigned 2 May 2018) 
David Karol Wassong 
Joshua Ho-Walker (appointed 31 January 2019)
Kash Pandya 
Nelson Oliveira 
Richard Byrne 
Simon David Pitcher 
Simon Hillard Poole 
Temitope Olugbeminiyi Lawani 
Umberto Pisoni (appointed 9 July 2018) 
Vishma Dharshini Boyjonauth 
Waldemar Rafal Szlezak (resigned 31 January 2019) 
Xavier Charles Rocoplan

Registered office
Level 3 
Alexander House 
35 Cybercity  
Ebene  
Mauritius

Company secretary 
Intercontinental Trust Limited 
Level 3 
Alexander House 
35 Cybercity  
Ebene  
Mauritius

Banker
Barclays Bank Plc 
International Banking Division  
Barclays House 
68-68A Cybercity 
Ebene 
Mauritius

Auditor
Deloitte 
7th Floor
Standard Chartered Tower 
19-21 Bank Street 
Cybercity 
Ebene 72201
Mauritius

This Annual Report and Accounts does not constitute an invitation to underwrite, subscribe for, or 
otherwise acquire or dispose of any company shares or other securities. This Annual Report and Accounts 
contains certain forward-looking statements with respect to the financial condition, results, operations and 
businesses of the company. These statements and forecasts involve risk and uncertainty because they 
relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future. There are a number of factors 
that could cause actual results or developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by 
these forward-looking statements and forecasts. Past performance is no guide to future performance and 
persons needing advice should consult an independent financial adviser.

Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018 95

Financial StatementsGovernance ReportStrategic ReportOverviewNotes

96 Helios Towers | Annual Report 2018

Financial StatementsRegistered office address
Level 3
Alexander House
35 Cybercity
Ebene
Mauritius

T: +44 (0) 207 871 3670
F: +44 (0) 207 235 6542

Registered Company Number
092064

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