The scorecard…
In reported currency, its revenue decreased by 0.50percent to $4.955billion from preceding year’s $4.979billion. In constant currency, the revenue increased by 21.1 percent. Profit before tax (PBT) of $661million as against loss before tax (LBT) of $63million in the preceding year represents an increase of 1,147.8 percent. Profit after tax (PAT) of $328million as against loss after tax (LAT) of $89million in the previous year represents 468.2 percent increase.
Airtel Africa’s expenses increased to $2.673billion in the review year from $2.572billion in the previous year, representing 4 percent increase or constant currency increase by 23.9 percent. In the review year, Airtel Africa’s basic earnings per share (EPS) increased to 6 cents as against loss per share (LPS) of 4.4 cents, up by 235.1 percent.
Stock price hits 52-week high…
At N2,372.5 per share, Airtel Africa Plc trades at its 52-week high as against a 52-week low of N2,100. At the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), Airtel Africa’s shares outstanding of 3,758,151,504 units are valued at about N8.915 trillion.
Hear the CEO speak…
Ahead of the company’s annual general meeting (AGM) which will be held on July 9, Sunil Taldar, chief executive officer, Airtel Africa Plc reflected on a year in which Airtel delivered strong operational and financial performance and remained committed to transforming lives, while navigating a complex and sometimes challenging operating environment.
“People in our markets have powerful aspirations. They want access to the transformational opportunities of digitalisation, financial inclusion and connectivity. Serving those aspirations has meant we’ve delivered the fastest constant currency revenue growth performance in the African telecoms sector this year,” he said.
While describing the year’s financial performance, Taldar said “Overall, this has been a strong year financially, with revenue growth in constant currency across all our services, with data and mobile money revenues both growing by around 30percent. There have been challenges at times during the year. The first quarter, in particular, saw some macroeconomic disturbance in some markets, including further currency devaluation in Nigeria.”
“Some markets also saw some political disturbance and continuing inflation, including fuel price inflation. More recently, we have seen significant global economic developments, which we are monitoring closely for their effects on our markets. We know that customers feel these cost-of-living pressures. It is striking, however, that despite these disturbances our customer base continued to grow, reaching 166.1 million by year end and average revenue per user increased by 12.4 percent in constant currency. Customers are using our services more – and using more services,” Taldar noted.
He noted further that cost pressures also affected Airtel Africa business and, particularly, “our margins which were down by 2.3 percent in 2024/25. This year, we launched a cost efficiency programme to reduce costs across the business. These initiatives have contributed to a steady improvement in underlying EBITDA margins from 45.3 percent in Q1’25 to 47.3 percent in Q4’25 – and, most importantly, helped us keep services affordable for customers”.
“Initiatives within our cost efficiency programme have also supported our sustainability strategy – moving around 500 sites from off-grid to on-grid has resulted in the saving of around 350,000 litres of fuel. Every day we see the benefits of digital and financial inclusion for the people we connect with. And every day, we connect more people to more services,” Taldar added.
CFO sees capex outlook around $725million to $750million…
Jaideep Paul, chief financial officer, Airtel Africa said, “Sustained operating momentum drove accelerating constant currency revenue growth during the year which, combined with our cost optimisation programme and a more stable macroeconomic environment, drove EBITDA margin improvements during the year to 47.3 percent in fourth-quarter (Q4) 2025 (from 45.3 percent in Q1’25).”
He noted that Airtel Africa generated a profit after tax (PAT) of $328 million during the year, compared to a loss of $89 million in the prior period, “partially contributed by relatively stable currency”.
He said, “The market in which we operate has enormous potential for future growth in mobile services, home broadband, mobile money services and data centres, with a vibrant economy and youthful population. We continue to focus on strong revenue growth, margin improvement and the strengthening of our balance sheet.”
“Tariff adjustments in Nigeria will enable us to continue investing in network infrastructure, expanding coverage and delivering improved products and services that meet the evolving needs of our customers.
“We are encouraged by the recent signs of lower macroeconomic volatility across the region, but we remain focused on the execution of our strategy to reduce the impact that further economic uncertainty may have on our business outlook.
“Our capex outlook (excluding licence renewal and spectrum acquisition) for next year is around $725 million to $750 million, which includes additional investment in our data centre and home broadband businesses,” Paul said.
Airtel Africa saw improvement in both operating and financial performance throughout the review year, demonstrating the effective execution of its strategy. Despite the challenging macroeconomic environment in a few of its key markets, Airtel Africa continues to see strong demand for its services as it enables connectivity and facilitates access to the digital economy. As a result, its two strong growth engines of data and Airtel Money recorded revenue growth of around 30 percent in constant currency.
“Revenue in reported currency for the year ended March 2025 declined by 0.5percent, although Q4 ’25 revenue growth accelerated to 17.8percent. During the year, the Nigerian naira remained fairly stable at around 1,530 per US dollar, although in the prior year, we witnessed a significant devaluation in the naira (from N461 per US dollar as of March 31, 2023 to N1,303 per US dollar as of March 31, 2024). In constant currency, revenue grew by 21.1 percent with Q4 ’25, growth accelerating to 23.2 percent driven by strong execution and the Nigeria tariff adjustments,” the CFO noted.
This has been a year of further significant progress – Mittal
Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman, Airtel Africa said, “Our purpose of transforming lives is achieved by connecting and empowering millions of people around us – while unlocking great growth opportunities for our stakeholders and our business”.
“Across our markets there is still a huge unmet need, especially for data and mobile money – and 77 million more young people will join our markets over the next five years, ready to contribute to the digital economy. I’m proud that Airtel Africa will continue to invest to meet those needs, unlocking growth and opportunity for our customers and for our business,” Mittal said.
He noted that Airtel Africa is investing in essential telecoms, data and mobile money services to unlock the massive potential of the markets it serves.
“Through these services the company is transforming lives by connecting the unconnected, reaching the financially excluded and bridging the digital divide,” the chairman added.
“Airtel Africa acts as a partner to the young, fast-growing populations of our 14 markets and their governments, helping to build a shared prosperous digital future that promises growth for Africa’s people, businesses and economies as well as for our business.
“This has been a year of further significant progress. The expansion of our network coverage, which now extends to over 37,100 sites across the region, has connected more people than ever to data, voice and mobile money services – and through this, our customer base has grown by 8.7 percent while voice usage and data usage have also seen strong growth”.
“Our ongoing investment in Airtel Money is providing financial inclusion to more customers than ever before with over 17 billion transactions reaching $136billion in 2024/25. These significant achievements are made possible by the hard work and dedication of everyone at Airtel Africa. Yet, across our markets, there is a substantial and unmet need – especially, for data and mobile money, the engines of connectivity and growth. Over the next five years 77 million more young people will join our markets, ready to contribute to the digital economy.
“We must ensure that the market is ready with the communications products and services that will power their education, work and home lives. I’m proud that Airtel Africa will continue to invest to meet these needs, unlocking growth and opportunity for our customers and for our business,” he said.
Nigeria presents one of Airtel Africa’s biggest opportunities…
Nigeria is Africa’s largest economy – and presents one of Airtel Africa’s biggest opportunities to transform lives and grow its business. With a young, digitally native population, there is huge unmet demand for data.
Dinesh Balsingh, managing director and CEO, Airtel Nigeria said, “Now more than ever, our focus on customer satisfaction is proving critical to business growth in Nigeria. As the economy hits a steady pace and consumer behaviour adjusts, being ahead of our customers’ needs continues to yield remarkable results.”
Rohit Marwha, chief marketing and sales officer, Airtel Africa Plc said, “There is huge potential for further growth in our underpenetrated markets, especially in data. But we know the market is evolving as well as growing – and our future success depends on enhancing the customer experience all the time.”
Ian Ferrao, CEO, Airtel Money said, “Our Airtel Money platform now connects 44.6 million customers to an inclusive ecosystem that enables seamless payments, transfers, collections, disbursements and essential financial services. As mobile money becomes the currency of choice across our markets, we’re not only accelerating digital adoption but also unlocking economic opportunities, fostering financial inclusion and empowering stronger communities.”
