Airtel Africa PLC (LSE:AAF) reported a 28.2% increase in revenue to $3.82 billion for the six months ended 30 September 2026, supported by growth in mobile data and mobile money services across its African markets.
Profit after tax rose 20.5% to $452 million, compared with $376 million a year earlier, while operating profit increased 34.2% to $1.29 billion.
Revenue grew 20.8% in constant currency terms, reflecting increased customer adoption and higher demand for digital services.
Mobile Data and Money Customers Continue to Increase
Airtel Africa’s total customer base expanded 11.6% to 193.9 million, while data customers increased 15% to 89.9 million.
Mobile money customers grew 22.4% to 60.9 million, supported by the expansion of digital financial services and distribution networks.
Smartphone penetration reached 51.6%, with average monthly smartphone data consumption increasing to 13.3 GB from 10.1 GB in the corresponding period.
Higher data usage contributed to a 10.7% increase in data average revenue per user in constant currency.
Mobile services revenue grew by almost 19% in constant currency, including 28% growth in data revenue, while mobile money revenue increased 25.8%.
Annualised total processed value across the mobile money business rose 36.5% to $275 billion during the second quarter.
EBITDA Rises 32.8% as Operating Margins Improve
Underlying EBITDA increased 32.8% to $1.92 billion, compared with $1.45 billion in the previous year.
The underlying EBITDA margin improved to 50.3% from 48.5%, despite inflationary pressures associated with higher fuel costs.
In the second quarter, the margin reached 50.4%, representing an increase of 144 basis points compared with the preceding quarter.
Basic earnings per share increased 23.3% to 10.2 cents from 8.3 cents.
Profit after tax included $55 million in exceptional charges relating to an in-principle settlement involving a group subsidiary and expenses associated with the Airtel Money initial public offering.
Net cash generated from operating activities increased 26.7% to $1.76 billion, while operating free cash flow rose 12% to $1.26 billion.
Network Investment More Than Doubles to $657 Million
Airtel Africa increased capital expenditure to $657 million during the half-year, more than doubling investment compared with the previous period.
The company added approximately 4,200 network sites to improve coverage and capacity, while supporting the development of services including home broadband.
Leverage declined to 1.6 times from 2.1 times, supported by higher underlying EBITDA.
The board declared an interim dividend of 3.1 cents per share, an increase of 9.2%.
Airtel Africa also returned $108.7 million to shareholders through its share buyback programme during the period.
Airtel Money IPO and Digital Expansion Remain Priorities
Chief Executive Officer Sunil Taldar highlighted the recent Airtel Money IPO as a development for the group, which retained its shareholding following the transaction.
“The recent IPO of Airtel Money represents a significant milestone for the Group. We retained our shareholding through the IPO and remain a long-term strategic shareholder, with significant exposure to Airtel Money’s future growth and value creation.”
The company continues to invest in digital services, artificial intelligence applications and network infrastructure to support customer growth.
Airtel Africa operates telecommunications and mobile money services across 14 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
Leave a Reply