Airtel Africa Plc has reported a strong financial and operational performance for the year ended March 31, 2026, driven by rising demand for data services, continued Airtel Money expansion, and disciplined operational execution across its African markets.
The telecommunications giant announced that its customer base grew by 10.5 per cent to 183.5 million subscribers, marking the company’s highest-ever net customer additions. Data customers increased by 14.8 per cent to 84.2 million, supported by a rise in smartphone penetration from 44.8 per cent to 49.5 percent.
The company said growing smartphone adoption significantly boosted data consumption, with average monthly data usage per customer increasing to 8.9 GB from 7.0 GB recorded in the previous financial year. This helped drive a 16.2 per cent growth in constant currency data average revenue per user (ARPU).
Airtel Money Continues Strong Expansion
Airtel Money maintained strong momentum during the year, with its customer base growing by 21.3 per cent to 54.1 million users.
The platform’s annualised total processed value rose by 49 per cent to over $215 billion in reported currency during the fourth quarter of FY2026, reflecting increased adoption of digital financial services and wider use cases across Airtel Africa’s markets.
The company said Airtel Money ARPU increased by 8.6 per cent in constant currency, underlining the growing importance of the platform within the group’s digital ecosystem.
Revenue Climbs 29.5 Per cent to $6.4 Billion
Airtel Africa recorded a 29.5 per cent increase in reported currency revenues to $6.415 billion, while constant currency revenue growth stood at 24 per cent.
The company attributed the performance to strong industry fundamentals, operational efficiency, tariff adjustments in Nigeria, and supportive macroeconomic conditions.
Nigeria and Francophone Africa delivered particularly strong performances, with constant currency revenue growth of 47.5 per cent and 17.1 per cent, respectively.
Data revenue, now the largest contributor to group revenue, grew by 35.2 per cent in constant currency, while mobile money revenues rose by 28.4 per cent.
Underlying EBITDA increased by 37.2 per cent in reported currency to $3.162 billion, with EBITDA margins improving to 49.3 per cent from 46.5 per cent recorded in the previous year. Fourth-quarter EBITDA margins reached an all-time high of 50.3 per cent.
Profit After Tax Jumps 147 Per cent
Profit after tax surged to $813 million from $328 million recorded in FY2025, supported by higher operating profit and improved foreign exchange and derivative gains.
Basic earnings per share rose sharply to 18.6 cents compared to 6.0 cents in the prior year, while earnings per share before exceptional items increased from 8.2 cents to 18.6 cents.
Net cash generated from operating activities also increased by 41 per cent to $3.195 billion.
Increased Investments in Network and Digital Infrastructure
Capital expenditure during the year increased by 31.9 per cent to $884 million as the company accelerated investments in network expansion and digital infrastructure.
Airtel Africa rolled out more than 3,250 new network sites and expanded its fibre network by approximately 3,200 kilometres to reach 81,900 kilometres.
The company announced a capital expenditure guidance of approximately $1.1 billion for FY2027, with investments expected to focus on expanding network coverage, enhancing capacity, growing home broadband services, and building data centres.
The company also reported improvements in leverage, with leverage reducing from 2.3x to 1.8x, while lease-adjusted leverage improved from 1.0x to 0.5x.
Shareholders to Receive Higher Dividend
The Board recommended a final dividend of 4.26 cents per share, bringing the total dividend for the financial year to 7.1 cents per share, representing a 9.2 per cent increase from the previous year.
Sunil Taldar, chief executive officer, on the trading update, said the company’s strong performance reflected continued execution of its strategy, strong demand for digital services, and wider adoption of artificial intelligence and new technologies across operations.
He noted that AI-powered network optimisation, streamlined customer onboarding, and expansion of the myAirtel app contributed significantly to improved customer experience and increased digital adoption.
Taldar also confirmed that Airtel Africa remains committed to the planned Airtel Money initial public offering, although prevailing geopolitical and market conditions have delayed the timeline. The company now expects the IPO to take place in the second half of 2026, subject to market conditions.
“This year delivered a very strong performance across both operating and financial metrics, reflecting the attractive industry fundamentals and structural growth drivers across our footprint. This backdrop, and the continued success of our strategy, contributed to our highest level of customer additions, revenue and EBITDA growth.
Adoption of new digital technologies and AI has been pivotal in unlocking growth opportunities and driving efficiencies, with wide‑ranging rollouts enhancing customer experience through site‑level network optimisation, streamlined onboarding and accelerating the rollout of the myAirtel app, a single-touchpoint customer interface designed to streamline service adoption and deliver a more intuitive digital journey.
This focused strategy has contributed to a further 22 per cent increase in smartphone customers to 91 million, driving an almost 50 per cent increase in data traffic and, together with another strong Airtel Money performance, supported a step-up in constant‑currency revenue growth to 24.0 per cent,” said Talda
He added that rising global energy costs could create near-term pressure on EBITDA margins, but the company would continue implementing cost-efficiency measures to minimise the impact while sustaining long-term growth.