Airtel Africa Plc reports $360 million pre-tax profit in Q1 2026

Airtel Africa Plc reported a profit before tax of $360 million for the quarter ended 30 June 2026, compared with $273 million in the prior period.

According to the unaudited results, profit after tax also increased to $198 million from $156 million, while basic earnings per share rose to 4.4 cents from 3.4 cents.

The company’s performance was driven by revenue growth, with reported currency revenue increasing 31.0% to $1.85 billion, supported by growth across mobile services, data, voice and mobile money operations.

Management commentary

Commenting on the results, Sunil Taldar, Chief Executive Officer of Airtel Africa, said:

• “We have started this year with another pleasing performance. Our continued focus on the customer experience translated into accelerating customer base growth across all business segments. As we continue to digitize our business, we are streamlining customer journeys, increasing digital adoption and harnessing data and AI to improve service delivery and support a strong, sustainable growth profile.
• Our accelerated investment programme remains on track, with investment brought forward into Q1 as we proactively invest ahead of demand to sustain our strong operating momentum and capture the growth opportunities presented by Africa’s ongoing digital transformation.”

Key Highlights

• Revenue: $1.85 billion (Up 31.0% YoY from $1.42 billion
• Voice revenue: $640 million (Up 20.1% YoY from $533 million)
• Data revenue: $750 million (Up 36.5% YoY from $549 million)
• Mobile money revenue: $434 million (Up 38.9% YoY from $290 million)
• Other revenue: $129 million (Up 19.7% YoY from $108 million)
• EBITDA: $928 million (Up 36.6% YoY from $679 million)
• EBITDA margin: 50.1% (Up from 48.0%)
• Operating profit: $627 million (Up 40.7% YoY from $446 million)
• Finance costs: $269 million (Up from $173 million)
• Net leverage: 1.7x (Improved from 2.2x)
• Lease-adjusted leverage: 0.5x (Improved from 0.9x)
• Mobile customers: 189.0 million (Up 11.6% YoY from 169.4 million)
• Data customers: 87.3 million (Up 15.0% YoY from 75.9 million)
• Mobile money customers: 56.5 million (Up 23.3% YoY from 45.8 million)

Driving the numbers

Airtel Africa’s Q1 2026/2027 performance was driven by continued growth across its telecommunications and digital services businesses, supported by rising customer adoption and increased data consumption.

• Revenue increased 31.0% in reported currency to $1.85 billion, reflecting growth across all major operating segments.
• Mobile services remained the largest contributor, generating $1.53 billion in revenue, representing an increase of 28.2% in reported currency and 19.1% in constant currency.

The company’s data business remained a major growth driver as customers continued shifting towards digital services. Data revenue increased 36.5% year-on-year to $750 million, supported by higher smartphone penetration, increased data usage and network investment.

• Management noted that smartphone penetration reached 51.0%, increasing by 5.2 percentage points over the previous year, while data traffic increased 56.3% as customers adopted digital solutions.
• Voice revenue also recorded growth, increasing 20.1% year-on-year to $640 million, while mobile money revenue increased 38.9% to $434 million.

The mobile money business benefited from continued financial inclusion efforts, with annualized transaction processing value exceeding $245 billion and customer numbers increasing 23.3% to 56.5 million.

Profitability improved as revenue growth translated into stronger operating performance.

• EBITDA increased 36.6% to $928 million, while EBITDA margin improved to 50.1% from 48.0%, supported by the company’s cost efficiency programme.

Management stated that the programme continued to support margin resilience despite rising energy costs and broader inflationary pressures.

• Operating profit increased 40.7% to $627 million, reflecting stronger EBITDA performance. However, finance costs increased to $269 million from $173 million, partly due to a $37 million exceptional finance cost relating to the settlement of a commercial dispute in one subsidiary, alongside higher derivative and foreign exchange losses.

Despite higher finance costs, profit before tax increased to $360 million. Tax charges rose to $162 million from $117 million, resulting in profit after tax of $198 million.

Underlying earnings remained stronger, with EPS before exceptional items and derivative and foreign exchange gains increasing to 5.4 cents from 3.0 cents.

Balance sheet

Capital expenditure rose to $389 million from $121 million as Airtel accelerated network investment to support future demand.

The balance sheet position improved during the period, with net leverage reducing to 1.7x from 2.2x, while lease-adjusted leverage improved to 0.5x from 0.9x.

Management attributed the improvement primarily to stronger EBITDA performance.

Market reaction

Airtel Africa Plc shares closed at N5,801.40 on 22 July 2026, representing a 0.0% movement on the day of the results release from the previous close of N5,801.40.

The stock has recorded a strong performance in 2026, rising 155.6% year-to-date from an opening share price of N2,270.00.

Over the shorter term, Airtel Africa shares gained 33.1% in the last four weeks, while the stock has appreciated 156% over six months and 151% over one year, reflecting sustained investor interest in the company’s growth outlook.

Airtel Africa is currently the most valuable stock on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), with a market capitalisation of N21.8 trillion.

The company also continued its shareholder return initiatives, with a share buyback programme launched during the period and approximately 10.2 million shares repurchased for $46.6 million as of 30 June 2026.