Airtel Mobile Commerce N.V., the parent company of Airtel Money, has reported a 25.1% increase in revenue at constant currency to $830 million for the six months ended September 30, 2026, supported by growth in its customer base, higher transaction values and increased adoption of digital financial services.
The results, announced on October 26, mark the company’s first financial report since its listing on the London Stock Exchange earlier this month. Revenue grew by 34% in reported currency from $620 million recorded in the corresponding period last year.
Profit after tax increased by 21.6% to $228 million, compared with $188 million in the previous year, while operating profit rose by 23% to $373 million. Basic earnings per share increased to 7.9 US cents from 6.5 US cents.
The group also declared an interim dividend of 6.4 US cents per share, representing 81% of the profit attributable to shareholders. The dividend is consistent with its policy of paying out at least 80% of profit attributable to owners of the company.
Airtel Money Chief Executive Officer Ian Basil Ferrao said the business had delivered a first-half performance in line with expectations and remained on course to achieve its full-year targets.
“Our first half was in line with our expectations: revenue grew 34% in reported currency to USD 830m, 25% in constant currency and our customer base reached 56.7 million,” Ferrao said.
The company’s customer base grew by 18.7% to 56.7 million, up from 47.7 million a year earlier, while mobile money penetration among Airtel’s telecommunications subscribers increased by 3.2 percentage points to 42.9%.
Digital adoption also accelerated, with the Airtel Money application customer base increasing by 64.3% to 4.1 million from 2.5 million. The growth reflects the company’s strategy to encourage customers to move towards app-based transactions and use a broader range of financial services.
Transaction activity expanded alongside customer growth. Total processed transaction value increased by 36.8% at constant currency to $128 billion during the half year, while annualised processed transaction value reached $270 billion in the second quarter.
The average transaction value per customer rose by 14.9% at constant currency to $397 per month, while average revenue per user increased by 5.1% on the same basis.
Airtel Money also expanded its physical distribution and payment acceptance networks. Its active agent network grew by 26.3% to 2.4 million, while the number of merchants on the platform increased by 85.5% to more than 587,000, compared with 317,000 in the prior-year period.
The expansion is expected to support the use of mobile money for everyday transactions, including merchant payments, transfers and other digital financial services.
Across its product portfolio, payments and transfers revenue grew by 29.4% at constant currency, while wallet services revenue increased by 27.6%. Financial services recorded the fastest growth, rising by 44.8%, reflecting efforts to diversify beyond basic wallet transactions.
The company said its growth strategy focuses on increasing customer acquisition, expanding application usage, strengthening its merchant network and developing additional services, including lending, insurance, savings, wealth management and digital payment solutions.
Regionally, East Africa generated $615 million in revenue, up 20.5% at constant currency, while Francophone Africa recorded 40.2% growth to $215 million. Strong performance in the Democratic Republic of the Congo contributed to the growth in Francophone markets.
East Africa’s mobile money customer base grew by 13.5% to 44.1 million, while penetration among telecommunications subscribers increased to 49.7%. The region’s total processed transaction value rose by 34.7% at constant currency to $98 billion.
In Francophone Africa, the customer base expanded by 41.9% to 12.6 million, and processed transaction value grew by 44.1% at constant currency to $30 billion. Mobile money penetration in the region increased to 29%.
Despite the growth in revenue and profitability, the group’s underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) margin declined to 48%, from 50.8% a year earlier.
Underlying EBITDA increased by 16.1% at constant currency to $398 million. The company attributed the margin decline largely to changes in intra-group agreements with Airtel Africa that took effect in July 2025, alongside an additional levy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The revised agreements affect the treatment of retention revenue and other charges between the telecommunications and mobile money businesses. Airtel Money said the changes reduced its underlying EBITDA margin by 270 basis points in the first half, while the additional levy in the DRC had a further 60-basis-point impact.
Ferrao said the first-half margin impact reflected the greater concentration of the changes during the period and that the company expected margins to strengthen in the second half as the effect moderated.
“We expect the margin to strengthen in H2, leaving us on track to deliver our full-year guidance,” he said.
For the financial year ending March 2027, Airtel Money expects revenue growth in the mid-20% range at constant currency, with underlying EBITDA margins projected to moderate by up to approximately two percentage points relative to the 2025/26 financial year. Over the medium term, the company expects revenue growth to trend upwards and targets underlying EBITDA margins above 50%.
Cash generation remained strong, with operating free cash flow increasing by 27.1% to $378 million from $297 million. Net cash generated from operating activities rose by 10.8% to $366 million.
The company was admitted to the London Stock Exchange’s Main Market on October 14, following the start of conditional dealings on October 9. The initial public offering involved the sale of 270 million existing shares, representing 10% of issued share capital, at £1.96 per share and valuing the company at approximately £5.3 billion, or about $7 billion.
Airtel Money did not raise new capital through the offering, as the shares were sold by existing shareholders.
The company operates across 13 African markets, providing mobile-based payments, transfers and other financial services. It said more than 75 million Airtel telecommunications subscribers across its footprint were not yet using Airtel Money, presenting an opportunity to expand adoption and deepen financial inclusion.