Airtel FY26: Currency Tailwinds and Cost Discipline Turn Policy Shocks into Record Profit
Airtel Africa closed the year ended 31 March 2026 with its strongest earnings print in recent years, converting a volatile operating environment into margin expansion, cash generation, and meaningful deleveraging.
Group revenue rose 29.5% to $6.415bn in reported terms, outpacing the 24.0% constant currency growth. That gap reflects currency appreciation across most markets flattering the dollar translation. Nigeria remained the engine, with constant currency revenue up 47.5% for the year and 40.3% in Q4’26 alone. The surge came from lapping tariff adjustments implemented in Q4’25 and from naira appreciation, as the weighted average rate moved from NGN/USD 1,529 in Q4’25 to 1,386 in Q4’26. Beyond Nigeria, East Africa and Francophone Africa also delivered, growing 17.8% and 17.1% in constant currency respectively, supported by stronger CFA, Zambian kwacha, Ugandan shilling and Tanzanian shilling.
The growth mix was healthier than in prior years. Mobile services revenue reached $5.35bn, up 22.6% in constant currency, led by data at 35.2% and voice at 12.8%. Mobile money is catching up fast, growing 28.4% in constant currency on the back of strong momentum in East and Francophone Africa, signaling a more balanced earnings profile.
What stands out, however, is margin performance. Underlying EBITDA grew 37.2% in reported terms to $3.162bn, and 30.4% in constant currency. As a result, EBITDA margin expanded 280 basis points to 49.3% for the year, and crossed the 50% mark in Q4’26 at 50.3%. This improvement was driven by a more favourable operating environment and the continued payoff from the cost efficiency programme. Mobile services margins rose 327 bps to 48.8%, while the dip in mobile money margin to 50.8% was by design, reflecting intra-group agreement renegotiations disclosed in H1’26 that had no impact at the consolidated level.
Strong operating leverage flowed through to profit. Operating profit rose 45.1% to $2.115bn, outpacing EBITDA growth as depreciation and amortisation remained contained. Finance costs fell to $713m from $822m, largely due to a swing in foreign exchange. Last year’s naira devaluation had produced $179m of derivative and FX losses; this year, naira appreciation generated $127m of FX gains. Stripping out FX, finance costs rose from $643m to $840m, reflecting the full-year impact of tower lease renewals in September 2024. Those renewals are cash-neutral to positive, and the group’s weighted average interest rate fell 240 bps to 10.6%, indicating better refinancing terms. With no exceptional items this year versus $87m last year, profit before tax more than doubled to $1.419bn, and profit after tax reached $813m, up from $328m.
The balance sheet showed similar improvement. Net cash from operations rose 41.0% to $3.195bn, and operating free cash flow climbed 39.4% to $2.278bn, a direct result of higher EBITDA and disciplined capital spending. Leverage fell sharply, with lease-adjusted leverage improving to 0.5x from 1.0x and net debt to EBITDA to 1.8x from 2.3x. Consequently, earnings per share before exceptional items and FX moved from 9.8c to 16.2c, showing that the operating improvement reached shareholders.
Viewed in context, FY26 was a test of management discipline. The same year that humbled several Nigerian bank CEOs when forbearance ended and FX swung, Airtel leaned into data and mobile money, pushed pricing where regulation allowed, and kept costs tight. The outcome was margin expansion despite policy and currency whipsaw. The risk now is that Q4’26 constant currency growth slowed to 22.3% as the Nigeria tariff base effect faded, and Francophone and East Africa remain smaller contributors. Any reversal in the naira would also weigh on reported numbers, while mobile money margin will likely stay under pressure from intra-group pricing adjustments.
Still, the FY26 results suggest Airtel is no longer just a currency bet. The business is generating strong cash, cutting leverage, and expanding margins through cost control. That’s why reported EPS jumped from 6.0c to 18.6c – it reflects operating leverage, not just FX gains. If data-led growth can be sustained and margins held above 48% as the Nigeria base normalizes, the claim of being a world-class operator begins to look less like branding and more like performance.
