Airtel Africa Plc, the telecommunications and mobile money provider serving 14 African countries, opened its 2027 financial year with stronger earnings as rising demand for mobile data and digital financial services, coupled with a growing customer base, lifted quarterly revenue above $1.85 billion.

The London-listed group reported profit after tax of $198 million for the quarter ended June 30, up from $156 million a year earlier. Revenue rose 31 percent to $1.853 billion from $1.415 billion, while operating profit increased 40.7 percent to $627 million. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) climbed 36.6 percent to $928 million, pushing the EBITDA margin to 50.1 percent from 48 percent in the same period last year.

Core businesses deliver strong growth

The stronger financial performance reflected broad-based growth across the company’s core businesses. Mobile services revenue increased 28.2 percent to $1.528 billion from $1.192 billion, driven by higher customer activity. Mobile money revenue climbed 38.9 percent to $404 million from $290 million as more customers embraced digital payments and financial services.

Data revenue rose 36.5 percent to $750 million from $549 million, while voice revenue increased to $640 million from $533 million. That strength was evident across all of Airtel Africa’s operating regions. The company said constant currency revenue grew 21.1 percent during the quarter, with every business segment posting double-digit gains.

Mobile services revenue increased 19.1 percent on a constant currency basis, while mobile money revenue rose 25.8 percent. Nigeria led regional performance with constant currency revenue growth of 29.8 percent, followed by East Africa at 17.8 percent and Francophone Africa at 18 percent.

Subscribers reach 189 million

The customer base also continued to expand, providing a solid foundation for future growth. Total subscribers rose 11.6 percent to 189 million, while data customers increased 15.5 percent to 87.3 million. Mobile money customers climbed 23.3 percent to 56.5 million, underscoring the growing demand for digital financial services across the group’s markets.

As more customers adopted smartphones and spent more time online, activity across Airtel Africa’s network continued to increase. Smartphone penetration reached 51 percent, up from 45.8 percent a year earlier, while average monthly data usage per customer rose from 7.8 gigabytes to 10.6 gigabytes. That increase helped drive a 56.3 percent jump in total data traffic during the quarter.

The higher customer activity also translated into another strong quarter for Airtel Money, one of the group’s fastest-growing businesses. Annualized total processed value exceeded $245 billion, a 51.5 percent increase in reported currency. The business generated $404 million in quarterly revenue, including $196 million from wallet services, $172 million from payments and transfers, and $21 million from financial services.

Fiber expansion supports connectivity growth

Mobile money now contributes 21.8 percent of group revenue, highlighting its increasingly important role in Airtel Africa’s business. The company said the performance reflected stronger customer engagement, broader use of its digital payment services and continued investment in expanding its financial services platform, helping bring more people into the formal financial system.

To support rising demand, Airtel Africa stepped up investment in its network during the quarter. Capital expenditure increased to $389 million from $121 million a year earlier. The company added more than 920 network sites, marking its largest first-quarter rollout on record, while expanding its fiber network to 82,100 kilometers. Management said the investment is aimed at improving network quality, extending coverage and supporting growing demand for digital connectivity.

Even with the higher level of investment, Airtel Africa further strengthened its balance sheet. Net leverage improved to 1.7 times from 2.2 times a year earlier, while lease-adjusted leverage declined to 0.5 times from 0.9 times, supported by stronger earnings. Net cash generated from operating activities rose 38.3 percent to $786 million, although operating free cash flow slipped 3.5 percent to $539 million as increased capital spending offset part of the improvement in operating performance.