Growth With the Margin Still Expanding
The half is notable because the two lines that usually trade off against each other moved together. Revenue grew 28.2% in reported terms and operating profit grew faster, up 34.2% to $1,286 million, which means the expansion was bought with volume rather than discounting. Data customers rose 15% to 89.9 million and mobile money customers rose 22.4% to 60.9 million, so the growth sits in the two segments with the longest runways. In constant currency, data revenue rose 28.0% and mobile money revenue rose 25.8% in the half.
Profit after tax grew more slowly than operating profit, and the gap is explained rather than hidden. The result absorbed $55 million of exceptional items, covering costs tied to the Airtel Money listing and an in-principle settlement in a subsidiary, alongside higher finance costs and smaller currency and derivative gains than a year earlier. Earnings per share before exceptionals, at 11.7 cents, show the underlying pace more cleanly than the reported 10.2 cents.
Nigeria Sets the Pace Again
Nigeria was the fastest of the three regions in the second quarter, with constant currency revenue growth of 24.4%, ahead of Francophone Africa at 20.3% and East Africa at 18.6%. Reported Nigerian growth was stronger still, at 45.0% for the half, because the naira averaged 1,360 to the dollar against 1,553 a year earlier. That currency tailwind flatters the group numbers, and it cuts both ways: the same translation effect that lifted reported revenue this half would reverse quickly if the naira weakened.
The spending behind the growth is heavy. Capex of $657 million in six months is more than double the prior year period, yet operating cash flow rose 26.7% to $1,759 million and covered it comfortably, leaving operating free cash flow of $1,264 million. Leverage fell to 1.6 times from 2.1 times even with the build-out running, and the group still returned $108.7 million through buybacks alongside the higher interim dividend.
The Margin Is the Number to Hold
Airtel now earns roughly half of every revenue dollar at the EBITDA line, a level few African telecom operators sustain while adding sites at this pace. The second quarter record of 50.4% was set during the heaviest capex half in the period covered, which suggests the margin rests on traffic growth and operating leverage rather than deferred investment. Management has already flagged the pressure point: fuel and energy costs remain exposed to the macroeconomic environment. If data traffic keeps compounding at the current rate, the network can absorb that cost. The half just reported is evidence that, for now, it is doing exactly that.
