Airtel Money posts $830m revenue, 25.1% growth in first results after London listing

Airtel Money reported revenue of $830 million for the six months ended September 30, 2026, up 25.1% year on year in constant currency. It was the mobile money business's first financial results since listing in London earlier this month.

Profit after tax rose 21.6% to $228 million from $188 million a year earlier. Revenue increased 34% in reported currency. The results were released on Monday, October 26, 2026.

Payments and financial services drive growth

Airtel Money, which operates in 13 African markets, saw financial services revenue grow 44.8% in constant currency. Payments and transfers revenue rose 29.4%, while wallet services revenue increased 27.6%.

Underlying EBITDA rose 16.1% in constant currency to $398 million. The underlying EBITDA margin fell to 48% from 50.8% a year earlier. Airtel Money blamed the margin pressure mainly on changes in intra-group agreements that took effect in July 2025. Those changes affected the margin by 270 basis points. An additional levy in the Democratic Republic of Congo added 60 basis points of pressure. The company said the impact was more concentrated in the first half and expects the margin to strengthen in the second half of the financial year.

Customer base hits 56.7 million

The customer base grew 18.7% to 56.7 million. That lifted mobile money penetration among Airtel Africa's telecommunications customers to 42.9%, up 3.2 percentage points from the previous year.

The app customer base grew 64.3% to 4.1 million. Agents rose 26.3% to 2.4 million, while merchants on the platform increased 85.5% to more than 587,000.

Total processed transaction value reached $128 billion during the six-month period, up 36.8% in constant currency. In the second quarter, processed transaction value was $67 billion, an annualised rate of $270 billion, representing 36.4% growth in constant currency.

Transaction value per customer rose 14.9% in constant currency to $397 per month. Average revenue per user increased 5.1% in constant currency. Airtel Money said its strategy includes expanding digital adoption, growing its distribution network and developing merchant payments, lending, insurance, savings and wealth management.

Dividend and outlook

The board declared an interim dividend of 6.4 US cents per share. That is equivalent to 81% of profit attributable to the company's owners and is consistent with a policy targeting a minimum payout of 80% of attributable profit.

Airtel Money reaffirmed full-year revenue growth guidance of the mid-20% range in constant currency for the 2027 financial year. It expects underlying EBITDA margins to moderate by up to about two percentage points relative to the 2026 financial year before returning to above 50% over the medium term.

The maiden results come after Airtel Money announced plans in September 2026 for its London Stock Exchange listing. In May 2026, Airtel Africa's mobile money business was reported to have generated $1.08 billion in revenue in the financial year ended March 2026, up from $770 million a year earlier. The growth in payments, merchants and financial services shows mobile money is moving beyond basic wallets across Airtel Money's 13 markets.