Airtel Africa (AAF) Q2 2027 earnings summary

Executive summary

• H1 revenue rose 20.8% in constant currency; underlying EBITDA margin reached 50.3%, with customer growth and cost efficiencies supporting expansion.

• Customer base grew 11.6% to 193.9m; data customers rose 15.0% to 89.9m and mobile money customers 22.4% to 60.9m.

• Accelerated network and digital investment supported growth; Airtel Money completed its IPO, with 77.85% retained.

Financial highlights

• H1 revenue was $3,823m, up 20.8% in constant currency and 28.2% reported; reported growth included positive currency translation, mainly from Nigeria and Zambia.

• EBITDA was $1,921m, up 23.5% in constant currency and 32.8% reported; H1 margin was 50.3%, while Q2 reached a record 50.4%.

• EPS before exceptional items was 11.7 cents versus 8.3 cents; excluding exceptional and FX effects, EPS was 11.8 cents versus 6.9 cents.

• Normalised free cash flow was $280m versus $368m, down $88m despite $357m of additional capex.

• Net cash from operating activities rose 26.7% to $1,759m; operating free cash flow increased 12.0% to $1,264m.

Outlook and guidance

• FY'27 capex guidance, excluding licence and spectrum, is $1.1bn; H1 capex was $657m versus $318m a year earlier.

• Growth priorities include network capacity and coverage, digital services, home broadband, B2B and data centres; investment decisions remain focused on returns and execution.

• Nigeria retained earnings are expected to turn positive in calendar 2026; dividend repatriation may begin in 2027 if currency conditions remain stable.

• Smartphone penetration is projected to rise from ~60% to 82% by 2030, while data traffic is expected to grow ~2.6x.