Airtel Money, the mobile money arm of Airtel Africa, has reported a 34 per cent jump in half-year revenue to $830 million (about Sh107 billion), in its first set of results since listing on the London Stock Exchange earlier this month.

The figures, for the six months to September 30, were released on Monday. In constant currency, which strips out exchange-rate swings, revenue grew 25.1 per cent, with the higher reported figure lifted mainly by a stronger Zambian kwacha, the company said.

Profit and customers

Profit after tax rose to $228 million from $188 million a year earlier, according to the results as reported by Reuters and TechAfrica News. Underlying EBITDA climbed 26.4 per cent to $398 million, although the margin slipped to 48 per cent from 50.8 per cent, which the firm blamed on changes to agreements within the Airtel group and extra levies in one market.

Other key numbers:

  • Customers up 18.7 per cent to 56.7 million
  • Annualised transaction value of $270 billion in the second quarter
  • Active agents up 26.3 per cent to 2.4 million
  • Active merchants up 85.5 per cent to more than 587,000
  • App users up 64.3 per cent to 4.1 million

The board declared an interim dividend of 6.4 US cents a share, about 81 per cent of profit attributable to shareholders.

East Africa leads

East Africa, the region that includes Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda, remained the biggest contributor, with revenue rising 20.5 per cent in constant currency to $615 million from 44.1 million customers, according to TechTrendsKE. The company did not break out figures for Kenya, where Airtel Money competes with Safaricom's dominant M-Pesa.

Chief executive Ian Basil Ferrao said payments, transfers and financial services such as loans and savings were the fastest-growing parts of the business and described them as higher-quality revenue. He said about 75 million Airtel mobile subscribers across its markets do not yet use Airtel Money, giving it a long runway for growth. He also told Reuters that the more under-penetrated French-speaking markets had grown particularly strongly.

Fresh from the IPO

Airtel Money floated in London on October 9 at 196 pence a share, in what the company called an oversubscribed listing, although the shares traded below the offer price in the following days.

The firm kept its guidance of mid-20s per cent constant-currency revenue growth for the year to March 2027 and said it expects margins to recover in the second half. Its parent, Airtel Africa, will release its own half-year results on Friday, October 30.

Photos: TechTrendsKE; TechMoran. Thumbnail design: HAMASTA MEDIA.