Airtel Africa plc has reported strong financial and operational performance for the half year ended 30 September 2026, with reported revenue increasing by 28.2% to $3.823 billion. Revenue growth in constant currency reached 20.8%, reflecting sustained demand for mobile data and financial services across its 14 African markets.
The Group’s total customer base expanded by 11.6% to 193.9 million, while data customers increased by 15% to 89.9 million and mobile money customers grew by 22.4% to 60.9 million. Smartphone penetration reached 51.6%, with average data usage rising to 13.3GB per smartphone customer from 10.1GB. Data average revenue per user (ARPU) grew by 10.7% in constant currency, while annualised mobile money transaction value reached $275 billion in the second quarter, representing a 36.5% increase.
Underlying EBITDA rose by 32.8% in reported currency to $1.921 billion, representing 23.5% growth in constant currency. The EBITDA margin reached 50.3% for the half year, with the second quarter recording a record 50.4%. Profit after tax increased to $452 million from $376 million, despite $55 million in exceptional costs associated with an in-principle settlement at a subsidiary and Airtel Money IPO expenses. Basic earnings per share stood at 10.2 cents, rising to 11.8 cents when excluding exceptional items and lower foreign-exchange and derivative gains.
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Regional performance remained positive, with Nigeria recording 24.4% constant-currency growth in the second quarter, Francophone Africa accelerating to 20.3% and East Africa growing by 18.6%. Mobile services revenue increased by nearly 19% in constant currency, supported by 28% growth in data revenue, while mobile money revenue rose by 25.8%. Capital expenditure more than doubled to $657 million as Airtel Africa added approximately 4,200 network sites to increase coverage and capacity and support services such as home broadband. Leverage improved from 2.1x to 1.6x, while the Board declared an interim dividend of 3.1 cents per share, up 9.2%, and returned $108.7 million to shareholders through its share buyback programme.
Commenting on the results, Airtel Africa Chief Executive Officer Sunil Taldar said: “The recent IPO of Airtel Money represents a significant milestone for the Group. We retained our shareholding through the IPO and remain a long-term strategic shareholder, with significant exposure to Airtel Money’s future growth and value creation. Over the first half we have delivered another strong operating and financial performance, reflecting the depth of underlying demand across our markets and consistent execution of our strategy, with total customer growth remaining strong and stable at 11.6%. The investment case remains as compelling as ever, supported by favourable demographic and economic trends, strong demand for data and financial services, and smartphones on our network increasing to over 100 million, with substantial headroom for further adoption. We are increasingly leveraging AI across the business to deepen customer understanding, accelerate innovation, simplify customer journeys and strengthen the detection of fraud and emerging threats. Combined with our ability to utilise our network, distribution and customer relationships to develop new businesses, these structural drivers underpin our confidence in the Group’s long-term growth prospects.”
Taldar added: “Despite rising fuel costs continuing to exert inflationary pressure on our cost base, we delivered a record underlying EBITDA margin of 50.4% in Q2’27 through a combination of operational discipline, ongoing cost efficiency programmes and continued scale benefits. Looking ahead, margin performance will continue to be influenced by the macroeconomic environment, including its impact on fuel costs. Our confidence in the growth trajectory of the business and the significant long-term opportunity across our markets underpins our decision to accelerate investment. During the period, we increased the pace of network investment to expand capacity and enhance service quality, positioning the business to capture an increasing share of future growth.”
On mobile money, Taldar said: “Our mobile money business continues to deliver strong growth and remains a key driver of financial inclusion across our markets, supported by sustained customer acquisition, increasing transaction volumes and ongoing expansion of its product ecosystem. Our mobile money and mobile services businesses will continue to work closely together to capture shared growth opportunities, realise operational synergies and deliver enhanced value for customers across our markets.”
He concluded: “Supported by a strong balance sheet and robust cash generation, we remain confident in the opportunities ahead. As more customers embrace digital services and financial inclusion, our continued focus on execution and customer experience positions us to deliver sustainable growth at scale and long-term value for shareholders.”
Airtel Africa provides mobile voice, data and mobile money services across 14 sub-Saharan African countries, spanning Nigeria, East Africa and Francophone Africa. The company’s operations cover Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Madagascar, Niger, the Republic of the Congo and Seychelles, alongside Nigeria. The half-year results were announced through the London Stock Exchange’s Regulatory News Service (RNS) on 30 October 2026.
