…Total customer base increased by 10% to 179.4 million, with data customers of 81.8 million, growing 14.6%.
…Airtel Money continues to scales, exceed 50 million subscribers, reaching 52.0 million customers up 17.3%
FRI JAN 30 2026-theGBJournal| Airtel Africa plc delivered a set of nine-month period ended 31 December 2025 results that once again captured the strength in the heart of its strategy, which has recorded strong operating and financial trends across the business.
The telecom giant’s latest earnings, published today on the NGX Exchange board, offered investors a familiar positivity: short-term financial performance paired with broader signs of cost efficiency, alongside accelerating revenue growth, even as it presses ahead with accelerated investment in-line with its revised capex guidance.
Airtel reported revenues came in at $4,667 million, 24.6% in constant currency and 28.3% in reported currency as currency appreciation supported the strong underlying fundamentals of the business.
EBITDA grew by 35.9% in reported currency to $2,283 million with EBITDA margins expanding further to 48.9% from 46.2% in the prior period.
Q3’26 saw a further sequential increase in EBITDA margins to 49.6%, driving EBITDA growth of 31.0% in constant currency and 40.8% in reported currency.
”The margin performance has been driven by the strong revenue growth and sustained benefits from our cost efficiency programme,” Airtel said.
Profit after tax of $586 million improved from $248 million in the prior period. Higher profit after tax in the current period was driven by higher operating profit and derivative and foreign exchange gains of $99 million, as compared to $153 million derivative and foreign exchange losses in the prior period.
Basic EPS of 13.1 cents compares to 4.4 cents in the prior period, predominantly reflecting the growth in operating profit and derivative and foreign exchange gains in the current period compared to losses in the prior period.
EPS before exceptional items increased from 6.2 cents in the prior period to 13.1 cents, largely reflecting the increased operating profits and derivative and foreign exchange gains in the current period.
“These results highlight the strength of our strategy, with strong operating and financial trends across the business,’ said CEO Sunil Taldar on the trading update.
”During the quarter, we accelerated investment to enhance coverage and data capacity while also expanding our fibre network. Coupling this investment with innovative partnerships, strengthens our customer proposition and positions us
to capture the considerable growth opportunity across our markets.”
Meanwhile, Airtel Money continues to scale, with two major milestones reached this quarter.
The first milestone saw the business exceed 50 million subscribers, reaching 52.0 million customers up 17.3%. Secondly, annualised total processed value2 (TPV) for Q3’26 surpassed the $200bn threshold, with an increase of 36% to over $210bn.
A broader ecosystem and stronger digital adoption contributed to a 9.8% increase in constant currency ARPU
Total customer base increased by 10% to 179.4 million, with data customers of 81.8 million, growing 14.6%.
Smartphone penetration rose another 3.9% to 48.1%, with data ARPU’s growing by 16.6% in constant currency as data usage per customer increased to 8.6GB per month from 6.9GB in prior period, facilitated by the enhanced network investment.
Airtel have also accelerated its investment in-line with its revised
capex guidance. Capex of $603 million increased by 32.2% over the prior period as it rolled out approximately 2,500 new sites and expanded fibre network by approximately 4,000kms to 81,500+ km to enhance both coverage and capacity, supporting a strong customer experience.
”Coupling this investment with innovative partnerships, strengthens our customer proposition and positions us to capture the considerable growth opportunity across our markets,” Taldar said.
” Our strategic priorities remain clear: to keep investing in best-in-class connectivity, accelerate financial inclusion through our mobile money platform and deliver a great customer experience. These results reinforce our confidence in the long-term potential of our markets and our ability to create value for all our stakeholders,” he adds.
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