Airtel Africa advances in Airtel Money IPO, sets H1’26 for listing

…to pay 3.9 cents final dividend as profit rises to $328m

…returns $120m to shareholders through share buyback programmes

Airtel Africa Plc has said that they are making significant progress in their preparations for the Airtel Money Initial Public Offer (IPO) and remain committed to this objective.

Sunil Taldar, chief executive officer, Airtel Africa Plc noted this following the telecos recently released results for year ended March 31, 2025.

Airtel Money is a mobile money service offered by Airtel, allowing users to make digital payments, send money, and manage their accounts through their mobile phones. It operates in several African countries.

“We are also mindful of evolving market conditions. Therefore, subject to these conditions, we anticipate a listing event in the first half of calendar year 2026”, Taldar said.

Airtel Africa said continued investment in its Airtel Money agent network, enhanced digital offerings and expanded use cases contributed to a 17.3 percent increase in mobile money subscribers to 44.6 million and a 11.4 percent growth in constant currency ARPU.

In the review financial year, Airtel Africa said
accelerating growth and sequential margin expansion supported its strong operating and financial momentum.

Operating highlights

Total customer base grew by 8.7 percent to 166.1 million, with focus on digital inclusion supporting a 4.3 percent increase in smartphone penetration to 44.8 percent. Data customers increased by 14.1 percent to 73.4 million, with data usage per customer increasing by 30.4 percent to 7.0 GB, supporting data ARPU growth of 15.4 percent in constant currency.

In Q4’25, transaction value increased by 34 percent in constant currency with annualised transaction value at $145billion.

Airtel Africa said its strategic focus on great customer experience was underpinned by sustained network investment with the rollout of 2,583 new sites and approximately 3,300 kms of fibre, supporting increased data capacity across the region.

Financial performance

Revenues of $4.955 billion grew by 21.1 percent in constant currency but declined by 0.5 percent in reported currency as currency devaluation impacted reported revenues. Strong execution and the tariff adjustments in Nigeria contributed to a further quarter of accelerating growth, with Q4’25 revenue growth of 23.2 percent in constant currency, and 17.8 percent in reported currency as currency headwinds eased.

Across the Group, mobile services revenue grew by 19.6 percent in constant currency, driven by voice revenue growth of 10.6 percent and data revenue growth of 30.5 percent. Mobile money revenue grew by 29.9 percent in constant currency.

For the year ended March 31, 2025, underlying EBITDA declined by 5.1 percent in reported currency to $2.304 billion with underlying EBITDA margins of 46.5 percent compared to 48.8 percent in the prior year, impacted by increased fuel prices and the lower contribution of Nigeria to the Group.

However, following a more stable operating environment and benefits from Airtel Africa cost efficiency programme, underlying EBITDA margins have expanded from 45.3 percent in Q1’25 to 47.3 percent in Q4’25.

Profit after tax of $328 million improved from a $89 million loss in the prior period. The prior period was significantly impacted by derivative and foreign exchange losses, primarily in Nigeria.

Basic EPS of 6.0 cents compares to negative (4.4 cents) in the prior period, predominantly reflecting lower derivative and foreign exchange losses in the current period. EPS before exceptional items declined from 10.1 cents in the prior period to 8.2 cents largely due to higher finance cost arising on account of tower contract renewals, which had a neutral to positive impact on cashflows, and a deferred impact of prior period currency devaluation.

Capital allocation

Capex of $670 million was below our guidance, primarily reflecting a deferral of data centre investment. Capex guidance for the next year is between $725 million and $750 million as we continue to invest for future growth.

We have been consistently reducing our foreign currency debt exposure, having paid down $702 million of foreign currency debt over the year.

Furthermore, 93 percent of Airtel Africa OpCo debt (excluding lease liabilities) is now in local currency, up from 83 percent a year ago.

Leverage has increased from 1.4x to 2.3x, primarily reflecting the $1.3 billion increase in lease liabilities arising from tower contract renewals. Lease-adjusted leverage increased from 0.7x in the prior period to 1.0x as of 31 March 2025, reflecting the impact of lower lease-adjusted underlying EBITDA given the translation impact arising from currency devaluation, and an increase in lease-adjusted net debt.

The Board has recommended a final dividend of 3.9 cents per share, making the total dividend for the full year 6.5 cents per share, a 9.2 percent growth from the previous year, in line with the dividend policy. In addition, during the year Airtel Africa returned $120 million to shareholders through share buyback programmes.

Taldar said, “We have reported another strong operating performance as our strategy continues to deliver against the significant opportunity that exists across our markets. The focus on our refreshed strategy has seen continued investment in the network while also driving improvements in our digital platforms and offerings to further enhance the customer experience.

“This has enabled increased digital inclusion with a further 20 percent growth in our smartphone customers to 74.4million, contributing to a 47.5 percent increase in data traffic over the year. Furthermore, Airtel Money continues to support financial inclusion with customers increasing 17.3 percent to 44.6 million and an expanding ecosystem underpinning the $136billion transaction value, which increased 32 percent in constant currency”.

He said, “An improving operating environment and focussed execution contributed to strong momentum in our financial results with constant currency revenue growth peaking at 23.2 percent in Q4’25. Part of this acceleration in the last quarter has also been driven by the Nigerian tariff adjustments.

This accelerating revenue growth and cost optimisation programme has supported quarterly EBITDA margin expansion during the year. Underlying EBITDA margins increased by 200bps from 45.3 percent in Q1’25 to 47.3 percent in Q4’25, and we remain focussed on further EBITDA margin improvements subject to macroeconomic stability. This, combined with our robust capital structure and disciplined capital allocation, puts us in a strong position to continue investing in network capacity to deliver continued growth.

According to the CEO, “The recent stability in the operating environment is encouraging, however we remain conscious of global developments that may impact our business. We will remain focussed on delivering our strategy to transform the lives of our customers and support economic prosperity across our markets. I want to say a particular thank-you to our customers, partners, governments and regulators for their support and our employees for their unrelenting contribution to the business.”