Airtel Africa reported on Thursday that its total number of users had increased by 7.9 per cent to 163.1 million. Data customers increased by 13.8 per cent to 71.4 million, indicating that data penetration was still on the rise.
As smartphone penetration increased by 5.2 per cent to 44.2 per cent, data usage per subscriber also increased by 32.3 per cent to 6.9 GB.
Due to the company’s emphasis on financial inclusion, mobile money services have continued to grow, and the number of members has increased by 18.3 per cent to 44.3 million. In Q3 2025, the annualised transaction value reached $146 billion, a 33.3 per cent increase in constant currency.
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In constant currency, the company also said that mobile money ARPU jumped by 11.8 per cent and data ARPU increased by 15.0 per cent, for a total ARPU gain of 12.0 per cent YoY.
In addition to a 20.8 per cent increase in data capacity made possible by the installation of 2,850 new network sites and 2,600 km of additional fibre infrastructure, Airtel Africa stressed that customer experience is still a top concern.
Airtel Africa reports $3.64 billion in revenue
Airtel Africa reported $3.64 billion in revenue, which represents a 20.4 per cent increase in constant currency but a 5.8 per cent decrease in reported currency as a result of currency devaluation.
Due to the company’s excellent execution, Q3 revenue growth accelerated by 2.5 per cent in reported currency and 21.3 per cent in constant currency.
Revenue from mobile services increased 18.8 per cent in constant currency across the Group, with voice and data revenue growing 9.8% and 29.5%, respectively.
In constant currency, mobile money revenue also increased by 29.6 per cent. EBITDA margins were 46.2 per cent for the nine-month period, which ended at $1.68 billion, an 11.9 per cent decrease in reported currency. A lower contribution from Nigeria and rising fuel prices were blamed for the decline.
But thanks to the company’s cost-cutting initiative, EBITDA margins increased from 45.3 per cent in Q1 2025 to 46.9 per cent in Q3 2025.
The appreciation of the Tanzanian shilling and Nigerian naira contributed to an extraordinary $94 million gain in Q3 2025 profit after taxes, according to Airtel Africa. But for the nine months that ended on December 31, 2024, profit after taxes was $248 million, which was affected by foreign exchange and derivative losses of $57 million.
EPS before unusual items fell from 7.1 cents to 6.2 cents during the previous period, mostly as a result of higher expenses associated with the renewal of the ATC contract. However, basic EPS climbed to 4.4 cents from 1.6 cents in the previous period, indicating a decrease in foreign exchange and derivative losses.
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Airtel Africa reports $456 million in capital expenditures
Airtel Africa had $456 million in capital expenditures, a 7.8% decrease from the previous period.
The company confirmed that its capex projection for the entire year remains between $725 million and $750 million as it continues to invest in long-term growth.
The company also highlighted considerable progress in decreasing its foreign currency debt exposure, having paid down $739 million in foreign currency debt over the past year. This has resulted in 92% of OpCo debt now being in local currency, compared to 79% a year ago.
Sunil Taldar, Airtel Africa’s CEO, stated, “We have delivered an improvement in both the operating and financial performance in the last quarter driven by our refined strategy which is focussed on delivering great customer experience across all touch points.”