Airtel Africa has announced its financial results for Q1 2025/2026, for the period ended June 30, 2025, posting a pre-tax profit of $273 million, representing a 269% year-on-year growth.
This figure also accounts for 41% of the group’s total pre-tax profit for the full financial year ended March 31, 2025.
Profit after tax rose sharply to $156 million, a 408% increase compared to the same period last year, and 48% of the prior full-year post-tax earnings.
Revenue came in at $1.415 billion, growing by 24.9% in constant currency and 22.4% in reported currency, as the group benefited from easing currency headwinds over the last three quarters.
According to the report, the acceleration in constant currency revenue growth from the previous quarter was driven by tariff adjustments in Nigeria and a strong performance in Francophone Africa, reflecting effective execution of its customer-focused strategy.
Sunil Taldar, Chief Executive Officer of Airtel Africa, commented:
“We are very pleased with the strong growth in our operating and financial performance in the first quarter. The scale of this growth reflects sustained demand for our services and the strength of our business model to meet these demands.
Operationally, the acceleration in customer base growth to 9%, and 17.4% growth in our data customers to 75.6 million, reflects strong on-ground execution with a relentless focus on digitisation and simplifying the customer experience.”
Behind the numbers
Airtel Africa’s performance for Q1 ended June 30, 2025, reflects strong operational momentum, with broad-based growth in both reported and constant currency terms.
Revenue growth was driven by significant increases in voice and data segments. Group mobile services revenue rose by 23.8% in constant currency, supported by a 38.1% surge in data revenue and 13.9% growth in voice revenue. Together, these two segments accounted for about 77% of total revenue.
Importantly, Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) rose by 12% year-on-year to $2.8 and is now 8% higher than the $2.6 recorded for the full year ended March 2025, highlighting the company’s success in deepening customer value and improving pricing power.
Operational drivers
- Customer base grew by 9% to 169.4 million, reflecting strong market penetration.
- Data subscribers rose by 17.4% to 75.6 million. Voice services, which were the largest revenue contributor at 38.57% in the full year 2025, have now been overtaken by data services, contributing 38.8% to revenue in Q1, compared to 37.67% for voice.
- Mobile money subscribers increased to 45.8 million, reinforcing Airtel’s fintech expansion strategy.
EBITDA and profitability
EBITDA in reported currency grew by 29.8% to $679 million, while in constant currency, it rose by 32.7%. This growth was driven by a more stable operating environment and the successful execution of Airtel’s cost-efficiency programme according to the company.
As a result, EBITDA margins improved by 276 basis points (bps), rising from 45.3% in Q1 2025 to 48.0% in Q1 2026.
Operating profit also recorded strong growth, increasing by 33.0% to $446 million, largely reflecting the strong EBITDA performance.
Finance costs:
Airtel Africa’s finance costs dropped to $173 million in Q1 2025, down from $261 million in the prior year. The previous figure was inflated by $136 million in FX and derivative losses, mainly due to the Naira devaluation ($122 million).
In contrast, the current period saw $22 million in FX and derivative gains, driven by CFA currency appreciation.
However, core finance costs (excluding FX/derivatives) increased from $125 million to $195 million, due to:
- Higher interest on lease liabilities from tower contract renewals (ATC & IHS),
- Increased operating company debt, and
- A shift from USD to higher-cost local currency debt.
The effective interest rate edged up to 12.9%, from 12.7% last year.
Leverage and capital structure
Airtel Africa has continued to improve its debt profile by increasing the share of loans held in local currency.
As of June 30, 2025, 95% of its operating company debt (excluding lease-related debt) was in local currency, up from 86% a year ago. This helps reduce exposure to exchange rate risks.
The company’s lease-adjusted leverage stayed steady at 0.9 times earnings.
However, the company’s overall debt level, including lease obligations, rose from 1.6 times to 2.2 times, mainly due to recent tower lease contract renewals. This is still an improvement from the 2.3 times recorded at the end of the previous quarter.
Market position
Airtel Africa remains the most valuable stock on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), with a market capitalization of N8.6 trillion. As of close business on July 23, its share price stood at N2,310.50 reflecting a 7.12% year-to-date performance.
