Airtel Africa profit more than doubles in nine months

NEW DELHI: AIRTEL Africa posted a profit after tax of USD 586 million for nine-month period ended 31 December 2025, more than doubling from USD 248 million in the previous period, driven by higher operating profits and significant gains from derivatives and foreign exchange.

During the review period, operating profit, combined with derivative and foreign exchange gains of USD 99 million compared with USD 153 million in losses in the prior period significantly contributed to Airtel Africa’s strong financial performance.

Revenues of 4,667 million US dollars increased by 24.6 per cent in constant currency and 28.3 per cent in reported currency as currency appreciation supported the strong underlying fundamentals of the business.

The strong execution of Airtel Africa strategy delivered constant currency revenue growth acceleration to 24.7 per cent in Q3’26, which was further supported by currency appreciation resulting in 32.9 per cent reported currency revenue growth.

Mobile services revenue grew by 23.3 per cent in constant currency. Data revenues, the largest contributor to group revenues, increased 36.5 per cent with voice revenues growing by 13.5 per cent.

Mobile money revenues continue to benefit from the strong operating momentum to deliver 29.4 per cent growth in constant currency.

Airtel Money continued its strong growth this quarter, surpassing two key milestones.

The subscriber base rose 17.3 per cent to 52.0 million, while annualised total processed value (TPV) for Q3 2026 exceeded USD 210 billion, up 36 per cent.

A broader ecosystem and higher digital adoption also drove a 9.8 per cent increase in ARPU in constant currency.

Recognising the significant opportunities across its markets, Airtel Africa accelerated investments in line with its previously announced revised capex guidance.

Capital expenditure of USD 603 million, up 32.2 per cent from the prior period, supported the rollout of approximately 2,500 new sites and an expansion of the fibre network by around 4,000 km, bringing total coverage to over 81,500 km.

These investments enhanced both network coverage and capacity, supporting a stronger customer experience.

Overall population coverage reached 81.7 per cent, up 0.6 percentage points from a year ago.

Commenting on the outstanding results, Airtel Africa CEO Sunil Taldar said, “These results demonstrate the strength of our strategy, reflecting robust operating and financial performance across the business.”

During the quarter, we accelerated investment to enhance coverage and data capacity while also expanding our fibre network.

Coupling this investment with innovative partnerships, strengthens our customer proposition and positions us to capture the considerable growth opportunity across our markets,”.

He added that digitisation, technological innovation, and the integration of AI into operations will enhance the customer experience, expand digital offerings, and better integrate GSM and Airtel Money services, enabling the company to capture growing demand across its markets.

Smartphone adoption continues to rise, reaching a penetration of 48.1 per cent, while the home broadband business is showing strong growth, reflecting the increasing demand for reliable, high-speed connectivity across our markets.

The data ARPU grew 16.6 per cent in constant currency and average usage increased to 8.6GB per month, reflecting the impact of enhanced network capacity.

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“Our push to enhance financial inclusion across the continent continues to gain momentum with our Mobile Money customer base expanding to 52 million, surpassing the 50 million milestones,” he said.

The annualised total processed value of over USD 210 billion in Q3 2026 underscores the scale and depth of our merchants, agents, and partner ecosystem, cementing our position as a key driver of financial inclusion across Africa. We remain on track for the Airtel Money listing in the first half of 2026.

“Our customer-focused strategy is driving strong momentum, supported by increased network investment, digitisation and strategic partnerships,” he noted.

Total customers rose 10 per cent to 179.4 million, with 81.8 million data users, up 14.6 per cent.