Airtel Africa profit surges 147% to $813m on Nigeria tariff boost, data boom

AIRTEL Africa⁠ posted a sharp rebound in profitability for the financial year ended March 31, 2026, as higher telecom tariffs in Nigeria, rapid growth in mobile data usage and expanding fintech operations helped lift revenue and margins across its African operations.

The telecoms and mobile money giant reported profit after tax of $813 million, representing a 147.4 percent jump from $328 million recorded a year earlier, marking one of the company’s strongest earnings recoveries in recent years after currency devaluations and foreign exchange (FX) losses weighed heavily on prior-year results.

The performance underscores how Airtel Africa is increasingly benefiting from Africa’s accelerating digital adoption, with data services and mobile money now emerging as the company’s strongest growth engines, overtaking traditional voice revenues.

Group revenue rose 29.5 percent to $6.4 billion in reported currency, while constant currency revenue climbed 24 percent, driven largely by strong momentum in Nigeria, East Africa and Francophone Africa. Nigeria remained the standout market, posting constant currency revenue growth of 47.5 percent following tariff adjustments and improving macroeconomic conditions.

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Data revenue expanded 40.3 percent to $2.53 billion, making it the largest contributor to Airtel Africa’s earnings for the first time, as smartphone adoption and rising internet consumption reshaped customer spending patterns across its 14 African markets.

The company added 17.4 million new customers during the year, bringing its total subscriber base to 183.5 million, the highest net additions in its history. Smartphone penetration increased to 49.5 percent, while average monthly data consumption per customer jumped to 8.9 gigabytes from 7 gigabytes a year earlier.

The results highlight a broader structural shift underway in African telecommunications, where operators are increasingly positioning themselves as digital infrastructure and financial services providers rather than traditional voice carriers.

Airtel Money, the group’s mobile financial services business, continued its rapid expansion, with customers rising 21.3 percent to 54.1 million. Annualised transaction value processed on the platform exceeded $215 billion in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2026, reinforcing the growing role of mobile wallets and digital payments in Africa’s largely underbanked economies.

The company said broader use cases, stronger customer engagement and increased app adoption drove a 49 percent increase in transaction value, while Airtel Money revenue rose 36.3 percent to $1.36 billion.

However, Airtel Africa disclosed that recent geopolitical developments and market volatility have delayed the anticipated initial public offering of Airtel Money. The company said it still intends to proceed with the listing in the second half (H1) of 2026 when market conditions improve.

Underlying EBITDA climbed 37.2 per cent to $3.16 billion, with EBITDA margin strengthening to 49.3 percent from 46.5 percent a year earlier, reflecting stronger operating leverage and the impact of ongoing cost-efficiency measures. Fourth-quarter EBITDA margin crossed the 50 percent mark for the first time.

Chief Executive Officer, Airtel Africa, Mr Sunil Taldar, said the company’s performance was supported by aggressive digitisation, artificial intelligence-driven efficiencies and investments in network expansion.

According to him, Airtel Africa rolled out more than 3,250 new network sites and expanded its fibre infrastructure by about 3,200 kilometres during the year as it sought to strengthen coverage and support surging data demand.

Capital expenditure rose 31.9 per cent to $884 million, while the company announced plans to increase investment further to about $1.1 billion in 2027, focusing on broadband expansion, enterprise services and data centres.

Analysts say the stronger earnings position Airtel Africa to deepen competition in Africa’s fast-growing digital economy, particularly in Nigeria where telecom operators are benefiting from improved pricing power after years of pressure from inflation and currency weakness.

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The company’s balance sheet also strengthened significantly during the year, with leverage improving to 1.8x from 2.3x, supported by stronger cash generation and improved earnings quality.

Basic earnings per share more than tripled to 18.6 cents from 6.0 cents previously, while operating free cash flow rose nearly 40 percent to $2.28 billion.

The board proposed a final dividend of 4.26 cents per share, bringing total dividend for the year to 7.1 cents per share, representing a 9.2 percent increase from the previous year.

Despite the strong outlook, Airtel Africa warned that rising energy costs linked to ongoing geopolitical tensions could pressure margins in the near term, although management said it expects continued revenue growth and cost controls to cushion the impact.