Airtel Africa has released its full-year 2025 financial report for the period ended March 31, 2025, reporting a pre-tax profit of $661 million, compared to a pre-tax loss of $63 million in the 2024 financial year.
Profit after tax stood at $328 million, improving from a $89 million loss in the prior period; which was significantly impacted by derivative and foreign exchange losses, primarily in Nigeria.
Revenues of $4,955 million grew by 21.1% in constant currency but declined by 0.5% in reported currency due to currency devaluation.
Strong execution and tariff adjustments in Nigeria contributed to a further quarter of accelerating growth, with Q4 2025 revenue growth of 23.2% in constant currency, and 17.8% in reported currency, as currency headwinds eased.
Commenting on the results, Sunil Taldar, Chief Executive Officer, stated:
“We have reported another strong operating performance as our strategy continues to deliver against the significant opportunity that exists across our markets.
An improving operating environment and focused execution contributed to strong momentum in our financial results, with constant currency revenue growth peaking at 23.2% in Q4’25. Part of this acceleration in the last quarter has also been driven by the Nigerian tariff adjustment.”
Behind the numbers
Airtel Africa’s performance for the year ended 31 March 2025 highlights strong operational growth.
Revenue in constant currency grew by 21.1%, but in reported currency, it declined marginally by 0.5%, primarily due to sharp currency devaluations in Nigeria, Malawi, and Zambia.
Notably, the Nigerian naira fell from an average of N781/$ to N1,531/$, significantly impacting reported results.
Operational drivers
Airtel delivered strong fundamentals:
- Customer base grew by 8.7% to 166.1 million, reflecting strong market penetration.
- Data subscribers rose 14.1% to 73.4 million, with average usage per customer increasing 30.4% to 7.0GB, boosting data ARPU by 15.4% in constant currency.
- Mobile money subscribers reached 44.6 million, reinforcing Airtel’s fintech push.
- Smartphone penetration increased by 4.3 percentage points to 44.8%, supporting higher digital engagement.
Voice services remain the largest revenue contributor at 39.64%, followed closely by data at 36.41%. While voice still leads, the narrowing gap indicates a shift toward data-led growth driven by rising smartphone use and data consumption.
EBITDA and profitability
Underlying EBITDA rose by 18.1% in constant currency. However, in reported currency, EBITDA margins declined by 228 basis points to 46.5%, mainly due to the naira depreciation and increased fuel costs in Nigeria.
Encouragingly, margins recovered through the year, rising from 45.3% in Q1 2025 to 47.3% in Q4 2025, thanks to early gains from cost efficiency initiatives and a more stable operating environment.
Finance costs and bottom line
Profit before tax stood at $661 million, compared to the $63 million loss in 2024.
A significant drop in net finance costs down 51.7% to $822 million from $1.703 billion in 2024 helped. Of the $822 million total finance cost:
- $179 million related to derivative and FX losses, primarily from the naira devaluation (with $87 million marked as exceptional).
- The balance increase from $444 million to $643 million was due to tower contract renewals and increased borrowing in local currency markets, which carry higher interest rates.
Leverage and capital structure
Airtel Africa strengthened its balance sheet by:
- Paying down $702 million in USD debt.
- Increasing local currency OpCo debt (excluding leases) to 93%, up from 83%.
To better reflect its debt position, the company introduced a lease-adjusted leverage metric. This increased from 0.7x to 1.0x, reflecting naira devaluation and lease-related debt.
Market position
Airtel Africa remains the most valuable stock on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), with a market capitalization of N8.11 trillion. As of May 8, 2025, its share price stood at N2,156.90, reflecting a flat year-to-date performance.
