ABUJA-(MaraviPost)-The continent leading smartphone network provider, Airtel Africa has now over 193.9 million customers with 89.9 million data users representing 11.6% and 15% increase.
This is contented in Airtel Africa plc results report for half year ended September 30 2026.
The report released on Friday, October 30, revealed that the emand for mobile money services remains strong, with mobile money customers increasing by 22.4% to 60.9 million.
The increase in smartphone penetration to 51.6% continued to drive the demand for data services, resulting in higher smartphone data usage per customer of 13.3 GB, up from 10.1 GB in the prior period.
The increase in data usage per customer, together with continued improvements in the customer experience, drove constant currency data ARPU growth of 10.7%, demonstrating our ability to effectively monetise growing data demand.
The structural drivers of financial inclusion across Africa continue to support strong demand for mobile money services,
underpinned by enhanced distribution, accessible digital products and increased customer engagement.
Continued ecosystem expansion and digital adoption drove annualised total processed value (TPV) growth of 36.5% to $275bn in
Q2’27.
On financial performance, the reports says the currency revenues reached $3,823m in H1’27, an increase of 28.2%, while in constant currency revenue grew
by 20.8%.
The sustained growth across all our regions and businesssegmentsreflects the structural growth opportunity and further evidence of our continued execution against this opportunity.
The mobile services business continued to
grow at almost 19% in constant currency as data revenue growth of 28% continuesto underpin growth.
Mobile money revenue growth in constant currency remained stable at 25.8%.
Continued execution against our strategic priorities, alongside sustained investment, drove strong trends across all our
regions.
In Francophone Africa, constant currency revenue growth accelerated to 20.3% in Q2’27, with Nigeria growing by 24.4% and East Africa by 18.6%.
Despite increased inflationary pressure from higher fuel costs, underlying EBITDA margins remained resilient at 50.3%, with margins at an all-time high of 50.4% in Q2’27 – a 144 bps increase over the previous period.
This strong performance reflects the benefits of continued growth at scale, driving operating leverage and supporting margin expansion, further reinforced by our cost efficiency programme.
Profit after tax of $452m improved from $376m in the prior period reflecting the continued strength of the underlying
operating performance, despite higher finance costs and lower foreign exchange and derivative gains during the period.
In the current period, profit after tax wasimpacted by exceptional items of $55m relating to an in-principle settlement
in one of the Group’s subsidiaries and Airtel Money IPO expenses.
Basic EPS increased to 10.2 cents from 8.3 cents. Excluding the impact of the exceptional items and the lower foreign
exchange and derivative gainsin the current period, EPS increased to 11.8 cents from 6.9 cents.
On the capital allocation, the report disclosed that capex of $657m during the period more than doubled reflecting our commitment to accelerate capex spend to reinforce our market position and support sustainable and profitable growth.
During the period, we added approximately 4,200 sites, bringing forward investment to enhance coverage and capacity, while supporting the development of new businesses, including home broadband (HBB).
Leverage has improved from 2.1x to 1.6x, with lease-adjusted leverage also improving to 0.5x from 0.8x in the previous period, primarily driven by the improvement in underlying EBITDA.
The Board has declared an interim dividend of 3.1 cents per share, an increase of 9.2%, in line with our dividend policy.
Furthermore, we returned $108.7m to shareholders through our share buyback programme during the period.
Sunil Taldar, chief executive officer, on the trading update: “The recent IPO of Airtel Money represents a significant milestone for the Group. We retained our shareholding through the IPOand remain a long-term strategic shareholder, with significant exposure to Airtel Money’s future growth and value creation.
“Over the first half we have delivered another strong operating and financial performance,reflecting the depth of
underlying demand across our markets and consistent execution of our strategy, with total customer growth remaining
strong and stable at 11.6%”.
He added, “The investment case remains as compelling as ever, supported by favourable demographic and economic trends, strong demand for data and financial services, and smartphones on our network increasing to over 100 million, with substantial headroom for further adoption.
“We are increasingly leveraging AI across the business to deepen customer understanding, accelerate innovation, simplify customer journeys and strengthen the detection offraud and emerging threats”.
He explains further, “Combined with our ability to utilise our network, distribution and customer relationships to develop
new businesses, these structural drivers underpin our confidence in the Group’s long-term growth prospects.
“Despite rising fuel costs continuing to exert inflationary pressure on our cost base, we delivered a record underlying EBITDA
margin of 50.4% in Q2’27 through a combination of operational discipline, ongoing cost efficiency programmes and
continued scale benefits”.
Taldar optimistic, “Looking ahead, margin performance will continue to be influenced by the macroeconomic environment, including its impact on fuel costs.
“Our confidence in the growth trajectory of the business and the significant
long-term opportunity across our markets underpins our decision to accelerate investment”.
He observes, “During the period, we
increased the pace of network investment to expand capacity and enhance service quality, positioning the business to
capture an increasing share of future growth.
“Our mobile money business continues to deliver strong growth and remains a key driver of financial inclusion across our
markets, supported by sustained customer acquisition, increasing transaction volumes and ongoing expansion of its
product ecosystem”.
He stated further, “Our mobile money and mobile services businesses will continue to work closely together to capture
shared growth opportunities, realise operational synergies and deliver enhanced value for customers across our markets.
Supported by a strong balance sheet and robust cash generation, we remain confident in the opportunities ahead.
“As more customers embrace digital services and financial inclusion, our continued focus on execution and customer experience
positions us to deliver sustainable growth at scale and long-term value for shareholders.”
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