Airtel Africa Q3 net jumps over 11-fold on-yr to $169 mn on exceptional gain, lower finance costs

Bharti Airtel’s Africa business reported an over 11-fold on-year jump in net profit to $169 million in the fiscal third quarter, on the back of a $94 million exceptional gain triggered by appreciation in key African currencies and a sharp fall in net finance costs.

Airtel Africa’s revenue also rose 2% on-year to nearly $1.27 billion, helped by decent customer additions, higher data usage and growth of its mobile money business.

“In Q3’25, profit after tax benefitted from an exceptional gain of $94 million (net of tax) following the naira and Tanzanian shilling appreciation,” Airtel Africa said in its earnings statement Thursday.

Airtel’s Africa unit also launched a second share buyback programme, which will return up to $100 million to shareholders.

“Following the completion of the first $100 million buyback, in December 2024 we announced the commencement of a second share-buyback programme that will return up to $100 million to shareholders, the company said.

It added that the move reflects the Airtel Africa board’s confidence in the continued growth potential, the strength of the company’s balance sheet and consistent cash accretion at the holding company level.

“Our focus on speed and quality execution is enabling us to unlock substantial opportunities for growth across our markets and business segments, where demand remains significant, resulting in a further acceleration of constant currency revenue growth in the most recent quarter,” Airtel Africa CEO Sunil Taldar said in an official statement.

He added that the recent signs of currency stabilisation in some markets and the recent decision from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) regarding tariff adjustments in Nigeria are encouraging and signal a more stable and supportive operating environment. “While challenges remain, these developments provide a firm foundation for growth and improved market conditions.”

Airtel Africa’s net finance cost (before exceptional items) for the December quarter, FY25, at $217 million was 39% lower on-year due to reduced forex losses.

Capex for the nine period to December 2024 at $456 million was 7.8% lower compared to the prior period. “Capex guidance for the full year remains between $725 million and $750 million as we continue to invest for future growth,” it added.

Airtel’s Africa unit has also been consistently reducing foreign currency debt exposure, having paid down $739 million of foreign currency debt over the last year. Furthermore, 92% of its OpCo debt (excl. lease liabilities) is now in local currency, up from 79% a year ago.

The company’s operating (read: ebitda) margins too have expanded from 45.3% in Q1 ’25 to 46.9% in Q3’25, triggered by initial success of its cost-efficiency programme.

Operational performance was steady with Airtel Africa’s ARPU — a key performance metric — rising 2.2% sequentially to $2.4 in Q3FY25, helped by decent data usage growth.

The penetration of Airtel Africa’s mobile money services continued to rise, helped by a 6.9% sequential rise in its mobile money customer base to 44.3 million in the fiscal third quarter. Quarterly revenue from the mobile money business too rose 9.7% sequentially to $269 million. The mobile money business ARPU, in turn, rose 4.5% on-quarter to $2.1.

The data user base of Airtel Africa increased 8.2% on-quarter to 71.4 million. The overall customer base across the telco’s 14 African markets rose 4.1% sequentially to 163.1 million. Data revenue increased 6.9% sequentially to $489 million in Q3FY25, helped by 4.2% higher consumption.

Net debt in the fiscal third quarter was up 2.13% sequentially to $5.26 billion.