Airtel Africa Declares Interim Dividend After 31.3% Surge in Half-Year Gross Profit

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

Airtel Africa Plc has released its half-year results for its 2027 fiscal year, improving its earnings by 34.0 per cent to $830 million from the $620 million achieved in the same period of the previous year.

In the period ended September 30, 2026, the company continued strong momentum across the product portfolio, with wallet services up 27.6 per cent, payments and transfers up 29.4 per cent and financial services up 44.8 per cent.

Gross profit went up by 31.3 per cent to $499 million, with the gross margin at 60.2 per cent of revenue compared with 61.4 per cent in the prior period, impacted largely by the change to the intra-group agreements.

Further, underlying EBITDA grew by 26.4 per cent in reported currency to $398 million, with the underlying EBITDA margin at 48.0 per cent versus 50.8 per cent in the prior period, driven primarily by the impact from the change to the intra-group agreements with effect from July 2025 and additional levies in one of the markets.

Profit after tax improved to $228 million from $188 million in the prior period, primarily reflecting the strong revenue growth over the period, while operating free cash flow gained 27.1 per cent to settle at $378 million as a result of a higher underlying EBITDA pre-tax conversion ratio of 94.9 per cent versus the previous 94.4 per cent.

To reward shareholders, the board T has declared an interim dividend of 6.4 cents per share, in line with dividend policy. This represents 81 per cent of profit attributable to the company’s owners. The dividend is consistent with the organisation’s stated policy of targeting a minimum payout of 80 per cent of profit attributable to owners of the company.

Commenting on the results, the chief executive of Airtel Africa, Mr Ian Basil Ferrao, said, “Our oversubscribed London listing was a landmark achievement for Airtel Money and a vote of confidence in our business model and strategy.

“Our growth trajectory remains compelling, supported by powerful structural tailwinds and proven execution.

“Our fastest growth is coming from payments and transfers and financial services, which are higher-quality revenue streams. The business is capital-light and highly cash-generative, with operating free cash flow of $378 million in the half. With around 75 million Airtel telco subscribers not yet using Airtel Money, our growth runway remains significant.”