Airtel Africa plc reported a sharp rise in annual profit to $813 million for the year ended March 31, 2026, driven by strong growth in its mobile money and data businesses across sub-Saharan Africa.
Revenue increased 29.5% to $6.42 billion, while constant currency revenue rose 24.0%, supported by strong demand in Nigeria and Francophone Africa and continued expansion in data services.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 37.2% to $3.16 billion, with margins improving to 49.3% from 46.5% a year earlier.
Basic earnings per share rose to 18.6 cents from 6.0 cents in the previous year.
The company said its customer base grew 10.5% to 183.5 million, while data customers increased 14.8% to 84.2 million. Average data usage per user rose to 8.9 gigabytes per month, supporting a 35.2% rise in data revenues in constant currency.
Mobile money platform Airtel Money also recorded strong growth, with customers rising 21.3% to 54.1 million. Annualised transaction value exceeded $215 billion in the fourth quarter, reflecting increasing adoption of digital financial services across the region.
The mobile money business has become a key growth pillar for Airtel Africa alongside data services as telecom operators expand into financial technology across Africa.
Capital expenditure rose 31.9% to $884 million during the year, with the company rolling out more than 3,250 new sites and expanding its fibre network by 3,200 kilometres.
The group expects capital expenditure of about $1.1 billion in the 2027 financial year as it invests in network expansion, home broadband and data infrastructure.
Net debt leverage improved to 1.8 times from 2.3 times a year earlier, supported by stronger earnings and cash generation.
The board proposed a final dividend of 4.26 cents per share, bringing total dividends for the year to 7.1 cents, up 9.2% year-on-year.
Chief Executive Officer Sunil Taldar said the performance reflected strong demand for digital services, but warned that rising energy costs could create margin pressure in the near term.
Airtel Africa operates in 14 countries across sub-Saharan Africa, providing mobile voice, data and mobile money services.