Airtel Africa Plc has reported robust financial results for the quarter ended 30 June 2025, showcasing strong growth across all key performance indicators and reinforcing its strategic focus on expanding digital and financial services across its 14 African markets.
The telecommunications and mobile money provider posted revenue of $1.415 billion, reflecting a 24.9% increase in constant currency and a 22.4% rise in reported currency. This performance was underpinned by a more stable macroeconomic environment, particularly in Nigeria, and the full impact of recent tariff adjustments.
Broad-Based Revenue Growth
The company’s revenue growth was broad-based:
- Mobile services revenue rose by 23.8% in constant currency.
- Data revenue surged by 38.1%, driven by rising smartphone penetration and increased data consumption.
- Voice revenue grew by 13.9%, showing continued relevance in key markets.
- Mobile money services maintained strong momentum, growing by 30.3% in constant currency.
Regional performance was also strong, with Francophone Africa growing by 16.4% and East Africa by 20.3%, both in constant currency.
Profitability and Margin Expansion
Airtel Africa’s profitability saw a significant boost:
- EBITDA rose by 29.8% in reported currency to $679 million.
- EBITDA margin expanded to 48.0%, up from 45.3% in the prior year, supported by operational efficiencies, stable fuel prices, and disciplined cost management.
Profit after tax jumped to $156 million, up from $31 million in the same quarter last year. This improvement was driven by higher operating profit and the absence of large foreign exchange and derivative losses that had impacted the previous period.
Basic earnings per share (EPS) rose sharply to 3.4 cents, compared to 0.2 cents a year earlier.
Operational Highlights
Airtel Africa’s customer base continued to expand:
- Total customers grew by 9.0% to 169.4 million.
- Data customers increased by 17.4% to 75.6 million, reflecting the company’s push to bridge the digital divide.
- Mobile money customers rose by 16.1% to 45.8 million, with transaction value up 28.7% in constant currency.
To support this growth, Airtel invested heavily in its infrastructure:
- 2,300+ new sites were deployed, bringing the total to 37,579.
- 2,700 km of fibre was added, expanding the total network to over 79,600 km.
- 4G population coverage reached 74.7%, up 3.4 percentage points year-on-year.
Strengthening Financial Resilience
Airtel Africa continued its debt localization strategy, reducing exposure to foreign currency volatility. As of June 2025, 95% of operating company debt (excluding lease liabilities) was denominated in local currency, up from 86% a year earlier.
The company also returned $16.9 million to shareholders through its ongoing share buyback program, reflecting confidence in its financial position and long-term strategy.
Sunil Taldar, Chief Executive Officer of Airtel Africa, stated:
We are very pleased with the strong growth in our operating and financial performance in the first quarter. The scale of the growth we achieved reflects the sustained demand for our services and the strength of our business model. The acceleration in customer base growth and our relentless focus on digitization and customer experience are driving our momentum.
