Airtel Africa showcased impressive operational results for the year ending March 31, 2025, fueled by a push for greater digital and financial inclusion, strategic network investments, and a dedicated focus on execution across its various markets.
The total customer base saw a healthy increase of 8.7%, reaching 166.1 million, bolstered by a 4.3% rise in smartphone adoption, now at 44.8%. Data customers surged by 14.1% to 73.4 million, with average data usage per customer jumping 30.4% to 7.0 GB. This growth contributed to a 15.4% rise in data ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) when adjusted for constant currency. Data traffic skyrocketed by 47.5% year-on-year, a testament to Airtel’s ongoing commitment to enhancing its network infrastructure, which included the addition of 2,583 new sites and the rollout of 3,300 kilometers of fiber.
Airtel Money also continued its impressive growth, with subscribers climbing 17.3% to 44.6 million. The annualized transaction value hit $145 billion, with Q4 alone witnessing a remarkable 34% year-on-year increase in transaction value. The mobile money segment experienced an ARPU growth of 11.4% in constant currency, thanks to a wider ecosystem and improved use cases.
Group revenue reached $4.96 billion, marking a 21.1% increase in constant currency, although it saw a slight 0.5% dip in reported currency due to devaluation effects. Q4’25 demonstrated revenue acceleration, up 23.2% in constant currency and 17.8% in reported currency, aided by tariff adjustments in Nigeria. Mobile services revenue grew by 19.6%, with voice and data revenue rising by 10.6% and 30.5%, respectively. Mobile money revenue also saw a significant increase of 29.9% in constant currency.
Underlying EBITDA fell by 5.1% in reported terms to $2.3 billion, with margins decreasing to 46.5% from 48.8% due to rising fuel costs and a weaker performance in Nigeria. However, there was a positive trend in quarterly margin expansion—from 45.3% in Q1 to 47.3% in Q4—thanks to cost efficiencies and a more stable operating environment.
Profit after tax made a remarkable comeback, soaring to $328 million from a loss of $89 million last year, thanks to a drop in foreign exchange and derivative losses. Basic earnings per share (EPS) also saw a nice uptick, rising to 6.0 cents from a negative 4.4 cents.
Capital expenditure reached $670 million, which is a bit below what was expected due to some delays in data center investments. The company successfully paid down $702 million in foreign currency debt, which now makes local currency debt 93% of the total OpCo debt. They’ve proposed a final dividend of 3.9 cents, bringing the total dividend to 6.5 cents per share, marking a 9.2% increase. Airtel is still on track for an Airtel Money IPO by the first half of 2026, depending on market conditions.
