Top telecommunication service provider, Airtel Africa Plc, saw its revenue fall by 30.4% to $4.955 billion, significantly impacted by derivative and foreign exchange losses, primarily in Nigeria.
According to a report released to the Nigerian Exchange ,NGX,Limited on Thursday, the Profit After Tax ,PAT, closed at $328 million for its year ended March 31, 2025, marking a return from an $89 million loss in the preceding year.
Nigeria’s persistent currency depreciation led to declines across all segments. Airtel saw its voice verticals fall by 36.9% year-on-year, data fell by 26.2%, and other services dropped 17.4% year-on-year.
However, in constant currency, revenue grew by 36.4% growth year-on-year, reflecting growth in voice ,24.3%, in the same period), data ,44.5%, and other ,58.7% revenue segments.
The revenue growth was driven by a 4.7% increase in the total subscriber base to 53.32 million ,with 1.17 million net additions in the last quarter of the company’s 2025 calendar and strong demand for data services, with data usage per subscriber rising 33.4% year-on-year to 8.4 GB per month.
Airtel’s $4.955 billion grew 21.1% in constant currency but declined by 0.5% in reported currency as currency devaluation impacted reported revenues.
“Strong execution and 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,” Airtel Africa said.
Across the Group, mobile services revenue grew by 19.6% in constant currency, driven by voice revenue growth of 10.6 per cent and data revenue growth of 30.5 per cent and mobile money revenue grew by 2.9% in constant currency.
EBITDA, which stands for Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortisation, and is used to access a company’s operating performance, declined by 5.1% in reported currency to $2.3 billion with underlying EBITDA margins of 46.5% compared to 48.8% in the prior year, impacted by increased fuel prices and the lower contribution of Nigeria to the Group.
However, following a more stable operating environment and benefits from its cost efficiency programme, underlying EBITDA margins have expanded from 45.3% in the first quarter of 2025 to 47.3% in the last quarter of 2025.
Airtel Africa’s customer base grew by 8.7% to 166.1 million, with its focus on digital inclusion supporting a 4.3% increase in smartphone penetration to 44.8%.
Data customers increased by 14.1% to 73.4million, with data usage per customer increasing by 30.4 per cent to 7.0 GB, supporting data Average Revenue Per User ,ARPU, growth of 15.4 per cent in constant currency.
Airtel Money agent network which offers enhanced digital offerings and expanded use cases contributed to a 17.3% increase in mobile money subscribers to 44.6 million and a 11.4% growth in constant currency ARPU.
Speaking on the performance, the chief executive of Airtel Africa, Mr Sunil Taldar, said, “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”.
“An improving operating environment and focused execution contributed to strong momentum in our financial results with constant currency revenue growth peaking at 23.2% in Q4’25. Part of this acceleration in the last quarter has also been driven by the Nigerian tariff adjustments”, he added.
Looking ahead, he 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″.
“The recent stability in the operating environment is encouraging, however we remain conscious of global developments that may impact our business. We will remain focused on delivering our strategy to transform the lives of our customers and support economic prosperity across our markets”. he added.
