…Buys back $16.9m shares since start of tranche 2
Airtel Africa Plc has just released its results for the first quarter ended June 30, 2025. The company’s strong operating and financial performance reflects effective execution of strategy and consistent demand across its markets.
Since the commencement of the second tranche of the share buyback for $55 million, the company has returned $16.9 million to shareholders following the purchase of 7.1 million ordinary shares as of June 30, 2025.
Operating highlights…
Airtel Africa’s total customer base grew by 9 percent to 169.4 million, with data customers increasing 17.4 percent to 75.6 million as the focus on bridging the digital divide across its markets continues.
This, alongside a 4.3 percent increase in smartphone penetration to 45.9 percent, contributed to accelerating demand for data services, with data ARPU growth accelerating to 18.5 percent in constant currency as data usage across its network increased by 47.4 percent.
Airtel Money continues to play a pivotal role in fostering financial inclusion with a 16.1 percent increase in customers to 45.8 million. As use cases continue to expand, customers are increasingly engaging with a wide range of offerings supporting a 35 percent increase in annualised transaction value to $162billion, and ARPU growth of 11.3 percent in constant currency.
Airtel’s strategic focus on great customer experience is underpinned by sustained network investment with the rollout of over 2,300 new sites to reach 37,579 sites and an expansion of our fibre network by 2,700 kms to over 79,600 kms. This investment continues to drive increased data capacity across the region, with 4G population coverage reaching 74.7 percent – an increase of 3.4 percent from a year ago.
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Financial performance…
Revenues of $1,415 million saw strong growth of 24.9 percent in constant currency and 22.4 percent in reported currency, as currency headwinds continue to ease over the last three quarters.
The acceleration in constant currency revenue growth from the previous quarter reflects not only the impact of the tariff adjustments in Nigeria but also a strong performance in Francophone Africa, reflecting the continued execution of Airtel Africa’s strategy focused on the customer experience.
Across the Group, mobile services revenue grew by 23.8 percent in constant currency, driven by voice revenue growth of 13.9 percent and data revenue growth of 38.1 percent. Mobile money revenues continued to see a strong growth trajectory, with 30.3 percent growth in constant currency.
EBITDA grew by 29.8 percent in reported currency to $679 million, with EBITDA margins expanding further to 48 percent from 45.3 percent in the prior period, driven by continued operating momentum, more stable fuel prices, and sustained benefits from Airtel Africa’s cost efficiency programme.
Profit after tax of $156 million improved from $31 million in the prior period. The prior period was significantly impacted by derivative and foreign exchange losses, primarily in Nigeria, while the current period benefited from a $22 million gain largely arising from the Central African franc (CFA) appreciation during the quarter.
Basic EPS of 3.4 cents compares to 0.2 cents in the prior period, predominantly reflecting higher operating profit in the current period and derivative and foreign exchange losses in the prior period. EPS before exceptional items increased from 2.3 cents in the prior period to 3.4 cents, as higher operating profits more than offset the impact of higher finance costs arising from the tower contract renewals undertaken during the previous financial year.
Capital allocation
Capex of $121 million was lower compared to the prior period, driven largely by timing differences. Capex guidance for the full year remains between $725 million and $750 million.
Airtel continued with its debt localisation programme, aimed to reduce its foreign currency debt exposure, with almost 95 percent of its OpCo debt (excl. lease liabilities) now in local currency, up from 86 percent a year ago.
Leverage has increased from 1.6x to 2.2x (an improvement from 2.3x in Q4’25), primarily reflecting the $1.3 billion increase in lease liabilities arising from the tower contract renewals. Lease-adjusted leverage remains flat at 0.9x.
CEO speaks ….
Sunil Taldar, chief executive officer, Airtel Africa, said: “We are very pleased with the strong growth in our operating and financial performance in the first quarter.
“The strength of this performance, and the scale of the growth we achieved, reflects the 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 percent, and 17.4 percent growth in our data customers to 75.6m reflects the strong on-ground execution with a relentless focus on digitisation and the simplification of the customer experience,” he said.
Read also: Airtel Africa to hit $5.93bn revenue as naira stability boosts earnings
“Our strategy continues to prioritise the customer experience, as demonstrated by the launch of Airtel Spam Alert—an AI-powered solution aimed at enhancing trust and delivering a safer network environment. This underscores our commitment to leveraging technology to lower barriers to smartphone adoption. With smartphone penetration at only 45.9 percent, we see significant headroom to drive further adoption and play a key role in bridging the digital divide,” Taldar said.
“Mobile money remains a cornerstone of our current and future growth proposition. With our customer base approaching 46 million and expanding by over 16 percent, we see significant potential to further advance financial inclusion through the continued growth of our financial services offering. The continued expansion of our mobile money portfolio and the advancement of enterprise and digital payments contributed to a 35 percent growth in annualised transaction value to $162billion,” he noted further.
“We will continue to focus on technology and the range of product offerings to deliver a differentiated experience for our customers.
The provision of these essential services and the strategic focus on providing a great customer experience underpinned the acceleration in constant currency revenue growth to 24.9 percent, translating into reported currency revenue growth of over 22 percent as currencies stabilise. This strong revenue performance and continued cost efficiencies contributed to further EBITDA margin expansion, which resulted in strong EBITDA growth of approximately 30 percent, and we remain focused on further margin improvements ,subject to macroeconomic stability.
“With a strong balance sheet and sustained network investment, I remain confident about our ability to capture the available growth potential across our markets and remain committed to efficiently and effectively delivering services that help to improve the lives, communities and economies we serve,” the CEO stated.
