Airtel Africa profit jumps 20.5% to $452M, declares 3.1¢ interim dividend payable Dec 11

Airtel Africa posted a 20.5% rise in half-year profit after tax to $452 million for the six months ended September 30, 2026, driven by 28.2% revenue growth to $3.82 billion. Operating profit surged 34.2% to $1.29 billion, with EBITDA up 32.8% to $1.92 billion and margins expanding to 50.3%.

Nigeria, the group's largest market, delivered 24.4% revenue growth in constant currency during Q2 FY2027. Data services now account for roughly half of mobile revenue—up from 46.5% a year ago—as data customers grew 15% to 89.9 million and monthly usage per smartphone hit 13.3GB. Total customers reached 193.9 million.

Airtel Money accelerated: customers up 22.4% to 60.9 million, revenue up 25.8%, with agents up 25% and merchants up 85.5% to 587,000. The mobile money unit listed 10% on the London Stock Exchange October 14 at £1.96/share—Airtel Africa retained 77.85%.

Finance costs weighed, rising to $477 million from $304 million, partly due to a $37 million dispute settlement and higher lease interest from network rollout. FX gains collapsed to $2 million from $90 million.

The board approved an interim dividend of 3.1 US cents per share (up 9.2%), payable December 11 to shareholders on record by November 13. A $108.7 million share buyback (24.5 million shares) was also completed.

With data demand and mobile money scaling across Africa, will Airtel's dividend growth and buyback signal confidence enough to offset rising finance costs and currency volatility?

SOURCE: https://nairametrics.com/2026/10/30/airtel-africas-half-year-profit-rises-20-5-to-452-million/