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By Chinwendu Obienyi
Amid the challenging operating environment in Nigeria, Airtel Africa revealed that it paid $739 million in foreign currency debt over the past year.
Its Chief Executive Officer, Airtel Africa Plc, Sunil Taldar further revealed that the company’s capital structure remains robust with just 8% of operating company (OpCo)’s debt in foreign currency, marking a substantial improvement over the last financial year with the figure standing at 21%.
Taldar disclosed this in a statement following the release of the company’s 9-month period ended December 31, 2024 financial results over the weekend.
According to a filing sent to the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), its total customer base grew by 7.9% to 163.1 million whilst data customer penetration continued to rise, with a 13.8% increase in data customers to 71.4 million.
Similarly, data usage per customer increased by 32.3% to 6.9 GBs, with smartphone penetration increasing by 5.2% to reach 44.2%.
“Revenues of $3,638 million grew by 20.4% in constant currency but declined by 5.8% in reported currency as currency devaluation continued to impact reported revenue trends.
Strong execution supported a further quarter of accelerating growth with Q3 2025 revenue growth of 21.3% in constant currency and reported currency revenue growth of 2.5%. Across the Group, mobile services revenue grew by 18.8% in constant currency, driven by voice revenue growth of 9.8% and data revenue growth of 29.5%. Mobile money revenue grew by 29.6% in constant currency”, the filing said.
The company’s EBITDA for the nine-month period declined by 11.9% in reported currency to $1,681m with EBITDA margins of 46.2% impacted by increased fuel prices and the lower contribution of Nigeria to the Group.
However, following initial successes of its cost efficiency programme, EBITDA margins have expanded from 45.3% in Q1 2025 to 46.9% in Q3 2025.
“In Q3 2025, profit after tax benefitted from an exceptional gain of $94 million (net of tax) following the naira and Tanzanian shilling appreciation. However, over the nine-month period ending 31 December 2024, profit after tax of $248 million was impacted by $57 million of exceptional derivative and foreign exchange losses (net of tax)”, the company revealed.
Speaking on the results, Taldar explained that the company have been consistently reducing its foreign currency debt exposure, having paid down $739 million of foreign currency debt over the last year.
He noted that furthermore, 92% of the company’s OpCo debt (excl. lease liabilities) is now in local currency, up from 79% a year ago.
He said, “As we have communicated previously, our cost efficiency programme continues to deliver EBITDA margin improvements, with a further expansion of margins in Q3 2025. We continue to focus on further margin improvement.
Furthermore, our capital structure remains robust with just 8% of OpCo debt in foreign currency – a substantial improvement over the last year.
This, together with continued confidence in the outlook for the business, has enabled the Board to announce a second share buyback programme, which will return up to $100 million to shareholders”.
Taldar also stated 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”, the Airtel Africa CEO said.
