Airtel has returned to profitability after a recent tariff hike approved by the federal government aided the telco to post $328m profit, a 468% surge.
Airtel had posted in its annual report ending March 31, 2024 that it made a loss after tax of $89m, which it blamed on foreign exchange losses, primarily in Nigeria.
However, the network service provider’s financial statement ending March 2025 revealed that Airtel has bounced back to profitability.
“The tariff adjustments in Nigeria contributed to a further quarter of accelerating growth, with Q4’25 revenue growth of 23.2% in constant currency, and 17.8% in reported currency as currency headwinds eased”, the books reveal.
Recall that in January, the Nigerian Communications Commission ,NCC, approved a 50% tariff hike for telecommunications operators, following requests from industry players.
During the review period, revenue rose by 21.1% to $4.95bn in constant currency but fell by 0.5% from $4.97bn in its financial year ending March 2024 to $4.95bn in 2025 Q4.
For the year, Airtel’s underlying Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, and Amortization ,EBITDA, declined by 5.1% in reported currency to $2.3bn with underlying EBITDA margins of 46.5% compared to 48.8 per cent in the past year.
The telecom firm said it was “Impacted by increased fuel prices and the lower contribution of Nigeria to the group”.
On customer growth, Airtel grew its base by 8.7% to 166.1 million customers.
Data customers increased to 73.4 million, with data usage per customer increasing by 30.4% to 7GB.
In Q4 2025 alone, transaction value increased by 34% in constant currency with an annualised transaction value of $145bn.
Despite the performance, Airtel admitted that its capital expenditure fell below its guidance to $670m because it differed data centre investment.
The company’s Chief Executive Officer, Sunil Taldar said, “We are making significant progress in our preparations for the Airtel Money IPO and remain committed to this objective. However, we are also mindful of evolving market conditions.
“Therefore, subject to these conditions, we anticipate a listing event in the first half of calendar year 2026″.
