Airtel Africa Plc has delivered a strong financial and operational performance for the quarter ended June 30, 2025, highlighting accelerated growth across its data and mobile money services. The telecoms giant reported a 9% increase in total customer base, reaching 169.4 million subscribers.
Data customers surged by 17.4% to 75.6 million, supported by a 4.3 percentage point increase in smartphone penetration to 45.9%. This drove a 47.4% rise in data usage across its networks, resulting in an 18.5% increase in data average revenue per user (ARPU) in constant currency.
Mobile money continued to be a cornerstone of Airtel Africa’s growth, with customer numbers rising by 16.1% to 45.8 million. As financial use cases expanded, annualised transaction value climbed 35% to $162 billion, while ARPU for mobile money rose by 11.3% in constant currency.
The company sustained significant network investment during the quarter, rolling out over 2,300 new sites, bringing the total to 37,579, and expanding its fibre optic infrastructure by 2,700 kilometres to more than 79,600 kilometres. This contributed to a rise in 4G population coverage to 74.7%, up from 71.3% a year earlier.
Revenue for the quarter stood at $1.415 billion, a 24.9% increase in constant currency and 22.4% in reported currency, marking a third consecutive quarter of easing currency headwinds. The growth was driven not only by tariff adjustments in Nigeria but also by strong customer uptake across Francophone Africa.
Group mobile services revenue rose by 23.8% in constant currency, led by a 13.9% increase in voice revenue and a 38.1% surge in data revenue. Mobile money revenue also showed solid momentum with 30.3% growth.
Airtel Africa’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 29.8% in reported currency to $679 million. EBITDA margin expanded to 48.0%, up from 45.3% a year earlier, supported by continued operating momentum, stable fuel prices, and benefits from ongoing cost efficiency measures.
Profit after tax climbed to $156 million from $31 million in the same period last year. This improvement was driven in part by a $22 million foreign exchange gain resulting from the appreciation of the Central African franc. Basic earnings per share (EPS) rose to 3.4 cents from 0.2 cents, while EPS before exceptional items also improved from 2.3 cents to 3.4 cents.
Chief Executive Officer Sunil Taldar expressed confidence in the company’s direction and applauded the results, stating: “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.”
Taldar pointed to the rapid expansion of the customer base and data services as key indicators of effective execution, noting: “Operationally, the acceleration in customer base growth to 9%, and 17.4% growth in our data customers to 75.6 million reflects the strong on-ground execution with a relentless focus on digitisation and the simplification of the customer experience.”
He also highlighted the launch of Airtel Spam Alert, an AI-powered tool designed to create a safer network environment, adding, “This underscores our commitment to leveraging technology to lower barriers to smartphone adoption. With smartphone penetration at only 45.9%, we see significant headroom to drive further adoption and play a key role in bridging the digital divide.”
On mobile money, Taldar underscored its importance to Airtel’s broader growth strategy, saying, “Mobile money remains a cornerstone of our current and future growth proposition. With our customer base approaching 46 million and expanding by over 16%, we see significant potential to further advance financial inclusion through the continued growth of our financial services offering.”
He further explained that, “The continued expansion of our mobile money portfolio and the advancement of enterprise and digital payments contributed to a 35% growth in annualised transaction value to $162 billion. We will continue to focus on technology and the range of product offerings to deliver a differentiated experience for our customers.”
Capital expenditure for the quarter stood at $121 million, lower than the prior period due to timing differences. However, full-year capex guidance remains unchanged between $725 million and $750 million. The company also continued its debt localisation drive, with 95% of its operating company debt now in local currencies—up from 86% a year earlier.
Leverage increased to 2.2x from 1.6x in the previous year, primarily due to a $1.3 billion rise in lease liabilities following tower contract renewals. Lease-adjusted leverage remained unchanged at 0.9x. In addition, under the second tranche of its $55 million share buyback programme, Airtel Africa has returned $16.9 million to shareholders, repurchasing 7.1 million ordinary shares as of June 30, 2025.
Looking ahead, Sunil Taldar remained optimistic about the company’s prospects: “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%, translating into reported currency revenue growth of over 22% 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%, and we remain focussed on further margin improvements subject to macroeconomic stability.”
He concluded with a reaffirmation of Airtel Africa’s long-term commitment to the markets it serves, noting that “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.”
