Airtel Money backs outlook as customer numbers increase and sales grow

Airtel Mobile Commerce NV on Monday reported higher first-half profit and revenue, despite a reduced margin, and said it was on track to meet full-year targets.

Airtel Mobile Commerce, also known as Airtel Money, is the Amsterdam-based mobile money business of London-listed telecommunications provider Airtel Africa PLC.

Trading in the company started earlier this month following the largest initial public offer in London since 2021.

Shares traded up 4.8% at 189.00 pence each in London on Monday, below the 196p per share IPO price.

Pretax profit rose 18% to USD360 million in the half-year ended September 30 from USD305 million the year prior.

Underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation increased 26% to USD398 million from USD315 million, at a margin of 48%, down from 51%.

The lower margin was driven primarily by the impact from the change to the intra-group agreements with effect from July 2025.

Chief Executive Ian Farrao said as this effect moderates, "we expect the margin to strengthen in H2, leaving us on track to deliver our full-year guidance."

Revenue increased 34% to USD830 million from USD620 million, or by 25% at constant currency. Wallet services sales rose 28%, payments and transfers sales increased 29% and financial services sales jumped 45%.

Basic earnings per share grew 21% to USD7.9 cents from 6.5 cents.

Airtel Money said its customer base grew by 19% to 56.7 million, driving mobile money penetration of telco customer base to 42.9%, up 3.2 percentage points from the prior year.

Airtel Money declared an interim dividend of 6.4 US cents per share, in line with dividend policy, of targeting a minimum payout of 80% of profit attributable.

The firm reiterated near-to-mid-term guidance.

For FY27, it has guided to revenue growth of mid-20s percent in constant currency, with underlying Ebitda margins expected to moderate by up to 2 percentage points relative to FY26.

Over the medium term, constant currency revenue growth is expected to trend upwards in line with historical constant currency growth. The underlying Ebitda margin is targeted to return to be upward of 50% levels over the medium term.

CEO Ferrao said the first half was "in line with our expectations".

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