Airtel Africa Plc has reported a significant jump in profitability for the half year ended 30 September 2025, as higher data and mobile money usage combined with improved currency trends lifted performance across its 14 markets.

The company’s revenue and profit growth came despite ongoing macroeconomic challenges in key territories, including Nigeria and parts of Francophone Africa.

Currency appreciation, strong data uptake, and Airtel Money momentum helped lift earnings across markets.

The sharp increase in profit reflects higher operating income, currency gains from the Nigerian naira and CFA franc appreciation, and reduced finance costs after last year’s heavy FX losses.

Data Now the Largest Revenue Driver 

Data revenue rose 37% in constant currency to $1.16 billion, overtaking voice as Airtel’s biggest revenue stream for the first time.

The number of data users increased 18.4% to 78.1 million, while smartphone penetration climbed to 46.8%, driving average data usage to 8.2GB per user per month.

Voice revenue grew 13.2% in constant currency, supported by an 11% increase in total subscribers to 173.8 million. Overall ARPU rose 14.8% to $2.9, reflecting price adjustments and improved user engagement.

Mobile Money Gains Scale 

The Airtel Money platform continued to expand rapidly:

• Revenue: $623 million, up 30.2% (constant currency)
• Customer base: 49.8 million, up 20%
• Annualised total processed value (TPV): $193 billion, up 35.9%

The fintech arm contributed 21% of group revenue, underscoring Airtel’s growing diversification beyond voice.

The company said preparation for the Airtel Money IPO remains on track for the first half of 2026.

Regional Breakdown 

• Nigeria: Revenue $697 million up 49% (constant currency), with data up 62% and EBITDA margin rising to 56%.
• East Africa: Revenue $1.05 billion up 15.6% (constant currency), EBITDA margin at 48%.
• Francophone Africa: Revenue $749 million up 14.5%, EBITDA margin 39.5%.

Currency appreciation in East and Francophone Africa, coupled with tariff adjustments in Nigeria, strengthened reported performance.

Cost and Capital Structure 

Total finance costs declined to $304 million (from $528 million), following the absence of exceptional FX losses seen last year.

EBITDA margin expanded by 268 basis points to 48.5%, supported by cost efficiency initiatives.

Airtel said 95% of its operating company (OpCo) debt is now in local currency, reducing foreign exchange exposure. Lease-adjusted leverage improved to 0.8x, from 1.0x a year ago.

Airtel added over 2,350 new network sites in the period, bringing total to 38,300, with 98.5% 4G coverage and growing 5G deployment in five countries.

Fibre capacity expanded by 4,000 km to over 81,000 km. Capex for FY2026 has been raised to between $875m and $900m to support this rollout and data centre investments.

“The strength of our revenue performance – up 24.5% in constant currency – and further cost efficiency initiatives has continued to support a further increase in EBITDA margins to 49% in Q2’26…  

“Our strategy has been focused on providing a superior customer experience and the strength of these results is testament to the initiatives that we have been implementing across the business,” said Sunil Taldar, Chief Executive Officer.

This strong performance gives us the confidence to increase our capex guidance as we accelerate investments to capture the full potential across our markets and deliver long-term value for all stakeholders.” 

Airtel Africa’s half-year results show a meaningful turnaround, with data and fintech operations now anchoring group profitability. While growth remains sensitive to macroeconomic and FX conditions, the company’s strategic investments in network expansion and digital services position it for steady earnings momentum into FY2026.

Source: Nairametrics