Airtel Africa half-year PAT rose to USD 452 million in September 2026, up 20.2% YoY

Airtel Africa's profit after tax (PAT) for the half year ended September 2026 stood at USD 452 million, up 20.2 per cent from September 2025.

Airtel Africa's profit after tax (PAT) for the half-year ended September 2026 stood at USD 452 million, up 20.2 per cent from September 2025. "Profit after tax of $452m improved from $376m in the prior period reflecting the continued strength of the underlyingoperating performance, despite higher finance costs and lower foreign exchange and derivative gains during the period, " as per an Airtel Africa release.

According to Airtel Africa, the operating performance improved despite higher finance costs and lower foreign exchange and derivative gains during the six-month period. PAT reflected exceptional items of USD 55 million connected to an in-principle settlement in a subsidiary alongside Airtel Money initial public offering (IPO) expenses. Reported revenue rose 28.2 per cent to USD 3,823 million, while constant currency revenue expanded 20.8 per cent. Across segments, mobile services grew almost 19 per cent in constant currency, supported by a 28 per cent rise in data revenue, while mobile money revenue increased 25.8 per cent. Basic earnings per share rose to 10.2 cents from 8.3 cents. Operating profit climbed 34.2 per cent to USD 1,286 million.

"Over the first half we have delivered another strong operating and financial performance, reflecting the depth of underlying demand across our markets and consistent execution of our strategy, with total customer growth remaining strong and stable at 11.6%," said Sunil Taldar, chief executive officer of Airtel Africa. "The recent IPO of Airtel Money represents a significant milestone for the Group. We retained our shareholding through the IPO and remain a long-term strategic shareholder, with significant exposure to Airtel Money's future growth and value creation," Taldar added.

The total customer base reached 193.9 million, with data users growing 15 per cent to 89.9 million and mobile money subscribers increasing 22.4 per cent to 60.9 million. Smartphone penetration rose to 51.6 per cent, pushing monthly smartphone data usage to 13.3 GB per customer. Mobile money annualized total processed value rose 36.5 per cent to USD 275 billion in the second quarter.

"Despite rising fuel costs continuing to exert inflationary pressure on our cost base, we delivered a record underlying EBITDA margin of 50.4% in Q2'27 through a combination of operational discipline, ongoing cost efficiency programmes and continued scale benefits," Taldar said. "During the period, we increased the pace of network investment to expand capacity and enhance service quality, positioning the business to capture an increasing share of future growth," Taldar added.

Capital expenditure rose to USD 657 million as the company added approximately 4,200 network sites. Leverage improved to 1.6x from 2.1x. The board declared an interim dividend of 3.1 cents per share, representing an increase of 9.2 per cent, alongside USD 108.7 million returned to shareholders through share buybacks. (ANI)