Airtel Africa Plc posted profit after tax (PAT) of $328 million in first quarter from $328 million loss after tax of $89 million previously resulting from improvement in operating environment and cost optimization programmes.
As foreign exchange revaluation losses dipped by 89.30 percent to $87 million, the company is on course to deliver higher returns to shareholders this year.
The unification of the exchange rate in June 2023 with the view of stabilising the economy is yielding fruits as it has led to stability in the foreign exchange market.
However, the currency devaluation undermined the top line (sales) as revenue fell by 0.50 reported currency to $4.95 billion in the year ended March 2025 from $4.97 billion the previous year.
Underlying earnings before interest taxation depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) reduced by 5.10 percent to $2.30 million in the period under review from $2.42 million the previous year.
Underlying EBITDA margin fell to 46.50 percent from 48.80 percent the previous year.
Airtel Africa’s total customer base grew by 8.7 percent to 166.1 million, with our focus on digital inclusion supporting a 4.3 percent increase in smartphone penetration to 44.8 percent.
Data customers increased by 14.1 percent to 73.4 million, with data usage per customer increasing by 30.4 percent to 7.0 GB, supporting data ARPU growth of 15.4 percent in constant currency.
Mobile subscribers increased by 17.30 percent to 44.60 million, driven by investment in the Airtel Money agent network, enhanced digital offerings and expanded use cases.
The company has been consistently reducing its foreign currency debt exposure, having paid down $702m of foreign currency debt over the year.
Furthermore, 93 percent of its OpCo debt (excl. lease liabilities) is now in local currency, up from 83 percent year ago.
“We have reported another strong operating performance as our strategy continues to deliver against the significant opportunity that exists across our markets. The focus on our refreshed strategy has seen continued investment in the network while also driving improvements in our digital platforms and offerings to further enhance the customer experience. This has enabled increased digital inclusion with a further 20 percent growth in our smartphone customers to 74.4m, contributing to a 47.5 percent increase in data traffic over the year,” said Sunil Taldar, chief executive officer of Airtel Africa.
The Board has recommended a final dividend of 3.9 cents per share, making the total dividend for the full year 6.5 cents per share, a 9.2 percent growth from the previous year, in line with the dividend policy. In addition, during the year we returned $120m to shareholders through share buyback programmes.
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