Airtel Africa Q1 profit hits $273m

Agency Report

Airtel Africa has reported a robust financial performance for the first quarter of its 2025/2026 financial year, posting a pre-tax profit of $273 million for the three-month period ended June 30, 2025.

This marks an impressive 269 per cent year-on-year increase, underscoring the telecom giant’s strong market position and operational resilience across its African operations.

The first quarter profit accounts for 41 per cent of the company’s total pre-tax profit for the full financial year ended March 31, 2025—an indication of significant momentum heading into the new fiscal cycle.

Profit after tax also soared, rising to $156 million—up by 408 per cent compared to the same quarter in the previous year. The figure represents 48 per cent of Airtel Africa’s total post-tax earnings for the last full financial year, highlighting an extraordinary growth trajectory.

Total revenue for the quarter stood at $1.415 billion, representing a 24.9 per cent increase in constant currency and a 22.4 per cent rise in reported currency.

The company attributed the performance to sustained demand, improved macroeconomic conditions, and easing currency pressures, particularly over the last three quarters.

According to the earnings release, the revenue acceleration was driven largely by tariff revisions in Nigeria—Airtel Africa’s largest market—and strong gains across Francophone Africa. The company also credited effective execution of its customer-focused strategy for the positive results.

Commenting on the performance, Airtel Africa’s Chief Executive Officer, Sunil Taldar, expressed confidence in the company’s outlook.

“We are very pleased with the strong growth in our operating and financial performance in the first quarter. The scale of this growth reflects sustained demand for our services and the strength of our business model to meet these demands,” he said.

Taldar highlighted a notable expansion in the company’s customer base, with a 9 per cent growth recorded in the quarter. Data customers grew even faster—by 17.4 per cent—bringing the total number of data users to 75.6 million.

“Operationally, the acceleration in customer base growth and the increase in our data customers reflect strong on-ground execution with a relentless focus on digitisation and simplifying the customer experience,” he added.

The performance signals a strong start to the fiscal year for Airtel Africa, reinforcing its strategic position in the increasingly competitive African telecommunications market.

Analysts say the company’s ability to grow revenues while managing currency volatility and expanding its digital footprint gives it an edge as it targets further growth in voice, data, and mobile money segments across its 14-country footprint.

With strong subscriber growth, improved margins, and a rebound in post-tax earnings, Airtel Africa appears well-positioned to build on this momentum in subsequent quarters.