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Airtel Africa PLC on Tuesday said it will increase investment to build on the improved sales, earnings and customer numbers reported in the first half of the financial year. Shares in London-based Airtel which operates telecommunications and mobile money services in Africa rose 7.2% to 247.20 pence each in London on Tuesday morning. It was the best performing stock on the FTSE 100 which was up marginally. Pretax profit ballooned to $656 million in the half year to September 30 from $178 million the year prior. The prior period was significantly impacted by derivative and foreign exchange losses, primarily in Nigeria, while the current period benefitted from a $90 million gain largely arising from Nigerian naira appreciation during the current quarter and the Central African franc appreciation during the previous quarter. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation increased 33% to $1.45 billion from $1.09 billion a year ago at a Ebitda margin of 48.5%, improved from 45.8%. Revenue jumped 26% to $2.98 billion from $2.37 billion and basic earnings per share multiplied to 8.3 US cents from 0.8 cents. Airtel said its total customer base of 173.8 million increased by 11%, with data customers of 78.1 million, up 18%. Mobile services revenue grew by 23% in constant currency, driven by voice revenue growth of 13% and data revenue growth of 37%. Data revenue of $1.16 billion has now surpassed voice as the biggest component of revenue for the group, Airtel Africa noted. Airtel Money continues to ‘gain momentum’, with the customer base nearing 50 million and annualised total processed value approaching $200 billion, up over 35% year-on-year. The company said Airtel Money remains on course for a listing in the first half of 2026. Capital expenditure of $318 million was in-line with the prior period, while capex guidance for the full-year has been increased to between $875 million and $900 million from $725 million and $750 million before. Airtel Africa said the increased investment will help to ‘accelerate our ability to capitalise on the significant opportunity across our markets.’ Chief Executive Sunil Taldar said: ‘The scale of the opportunity across our markets remains substantial.’ ‘A young and fast-growing population, combined with low levels of [subscriber identity module] and banking penetration on one hand, and increasing smartphone and digital payment adoption across our existing base on the other, provides a unique opportunity to leverage our extensive infrastructure for sustained growth in sub-Saharan Africa,’ he added. The dividend was increased by 9.2% to 2.84 cents per share from 2.60 cents. The $100 million share buy-back programme remains on track to complete on or before the end of March 2026. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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