|
Airtel Africa PLC on Friday reported an annual profit surge and announced the Middle East conflict has pushed back the timing of its mobile money unit’s stock market listing. The telecommunications firm now expected Airtel Money to list in the second half of this year. ‘Market conditions following recent geopolitical developments have affected the anticipated timing of the Airtel Money IPO. We have made good progress and remain committed to the listing as market conditions allow,’ the company added. It had previously expected to list the unit in the first half. In April, citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reported that London was the likely listing location for the unit and that a fundraise between $1.5 billion and $2 billion was eyed. The listing could value Airtel Money at $10 billion, Bloomberg reported last month. For the year to March 31, Airtel Africa’s pretax profit more than doubled to $1.42 billion from $661 million. Revenue climbed 30% to $6.42 billion from $4.96 billion. Underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation shot up 37% to $3.16 billion from $2.30 billion. The underlying Ebitda margin rose to 49.3% in financial 2026, from 46.5%. ‘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,’ Chief Executive Officer Sunil Taldar said. ‘Airtel Money has made strong progress across digital adoption, ecosystem expansion and product innovation this year. Customer engagement continues to deepen, with app transacting customers up 74%.’ Airtel Money’s customer base rose 21% on-year to 54.1 million. Airtel Africa upped its final dividend by 9.2% to 4.26 cents from 3.9 cents. Its total dividend was also 9.2% higher at 7.1 cents from 6.5 cents. Looking ahead, Taldar said: ‘The recent increase in energy costs arising from the ongoing geopolitical events will likely lead to increased cost inflation, resulting in Ebitda margin pressure in the near-term. However, with a strong growth outlook, and an enhanced focus on cost efficiencies, we will look to limit the overall impact on our business. ‘Our accelerated investment strategy remains focused on maximising value from our core growth businesses, while investing in new and fastgrowing areas, including enterprise, that will further advance both digital and financial inclusion and help transform communities across our footprint. I want to say a particular thank-you to our customers, governments, regulators and partners for their support and our employees for their ongoing contribution to our continued successes.’ Shares in the company fell 0.3% to 362.80 pence each in London on Friday morning. Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
|
