Airtel Africa doubles profit to $586m in nine months
Elegbede Abiodun
Airtel Africa reported a nine-month profit of $586m, more than double the $248m recorded a year earlier, as mobile data and financial services demand surged across the continent, the telco said on Friday.
The company, which operates in 14 African countries, said a $252m improvement in foreign-exchange and derivative results from a $153m loss to a $99m gain also boosted profits.
According to the report, revenue rose to $4.67bn, representing a 24.6 per cent increase in constant currency and a 28.3 per cent rise in reported currency, as currency appreciation complemented solid underlying operational performance.
Revenue growth accelerated in the third quarter, with constant-currency revenue up 24.7 per cent and reported revenue rising 32.9 per cent.
Chief Executive Officer of Airtel Africa, Sunil Taldar, said the latest results underscored the strength of the company’s strategy, pointing to strong operating and financial momentum across the business.
“Our results highlight the strength of our strategy, with strong operating and financial trends across the business,” the executive said. “During the quarter, we accelerated investment to enhance coverage and data capacity while also expanding our fibre network.”
Mobile services revenue increased 23.3 per cent in constant currency, led by continued expansion in data usage.
Data revenue, the group’s largest contributor, climbed 36.5 per cent, while voice revenue grew 13.5 per cent.
Mobile money revenue also posted strong gains, rising 29.4 per cent in constant currency.
Taldar said the company was deepening its focus on digitisation and technology innovation, including embedding artificial intelligence into its processes, to enhance customer experience.
The CEO added that closer integration of GSM services and Airtel Money, alongside expanded digital offerings, was helping the group unlock rising demand.
Smartphone adoption, he noted, continued to increase, with penetration reaching 48.1 per cent, while the company was also seeing solid progress in its home broadband business as demand for reliable, high-speed connectivity grew across its markets.
The company’s total customer base grew 10% to 179.4 million, supported by increased network investment and a customer-centric strategy.
Data customers rose 14.6 per cent to 81.8 million, while smartphone penetration increased to 48.1%, up 3.9 percentage points.
Average data consumption per customer rose to 8.6 gigabytes per month, from 6.9GB in the prior period, driving a 16.6 per cent increase in data average revenue per user in constant currency.
Airtel Africa’s mobile money business reached key milestones during the period. Subscriber numbers increased 17.3 per cent to 52 million, while annualised total processed value in the third quarter exceeded $200bn, rising 36 per cent to more than $210bn, the results showed.
The telco said it would continue to invest in network expansion, digitisation, and partnerships to sustain growth across its African markets, as demand for data and digital financial services continues to rise.
