Airtel Mobile Commerce N.V., the holding company of Airtel Money, reported revenue of $830 million for the six months to 30 September 2026, up 34.0% in reported currency. Profit after tax rose 21.6% to $228 million. The company published the numbers on 26 October, its first results since shares began trading on the London Stock Exchange on 14 October under the ticker AMC.
The board declared an interim dividend of 6.4 US cents per share, payable on 4 December.
Revenue and profit
In constant currency, revenue grew 25.1%. The company said the gap between the two figures comes mainly from appreciation of the Zambian kwacha. Gross profit rose 31.3% to $499 million. Basic earnings per share were 7.9 US cents, against 6.5 cents a year earlier. Before exceptional items, which were IPO costs of $6 million, earnings per share were 8.1 cents.
| Measure | H1 2027 | H1 2026 | Reported change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $830m | $620m | 34.0% |
| Gross profit | $499m | $381m | 31.3% |
| Underlying EBITDA | $398m | $315m | 26.4% |
| Operating profit | $373m | $303m | 23.0% |
| Profit after tax | $228m | $188m | 21.6% |
| Operating free cash flow | $378m | $297m | 27.1% |
| Basic EPS | 7.9 US cents | 6.5 US cents | 21.1% |
Revenue by product, in constant currency, grew as follows: wallet services 27.6%, payments and transfers 29.4%, and financial services 44.8%. Financial services supplied 4.7% of revenue, up from 4.1%. Other revenue, which consists of retention payments from Airtel Africa, fell 40.7%.
Margin falls after intra group changes
Underlying EBITDA margin fell to 48.0% from 50.8%, a drop of 286 basis points. The company attributed 270 basis points to revised agreements with Airtel Africa that took effect in July 2025. It attributed a further 60 basis points to an additional levy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The revised agreements phase out retention revenue by March 2027. The company said the full effect landed in the first half, and expects the margin to rise in the second half.
Chief executive Ian Basil Ferrao said the first half “reflects the greater concentration of the IGA impact in H1.” He added that “as this effect moderates, we expect the margin to strengthen in H2.”
Guidance for the year to March 2027 is unchanged. It calls for constant currency revenue growth in the mid 20s percent and an underlying EBITDA margin up to about 2 percentage points below the prior year. Over the medium term the company targets a margin above 50%.
Customers, agents and transaction value
The customer base grew 18.7% to 56.7 million, which equals 42.9% of Airtel Africa’s telecom subscribers, up 3.2 percentage points. App customers rose 64.3% to 4.1 million. Active agents grew 26.3% to 2.4 million, and merchants rose 85.5% to more than 587,000.
Total processed value reached $128 billion in the half. The second quarter ran at an annualised $270 billion, up 36.4% in constant currency. Revenue as a share of processed value, the take rate, fell to 0.65% from 0.71%, which the company linked to the intra group changes and product mix.
Ferrao said about 75 million Airtel telecom subscribers do not yet use Airtel Money.
East Africa grows more slowly than Francophone Africa
| Region | Revenue | Constant currency growth | Underlying EBITDA margin | Customer base |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Africa | $615m | 20.5% | 49.2% (50.7%) | 44.1m, up 13.5% |
| Francophone Africa | $215m | 40.2% | 43.9% (49.7%) | 12.6m, up 41.9% |
East Africa covers Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. Francophone Africa covers Chad, the DRC, Gabon, Madagascar, Niger, the Republic of the Congo and the Seychelles.
Francophone revenue growth came mainly from the DRC. Transaction value per customer there rose only 3.0% in constant currency. The company said new users are still building their transaction frequency. In the region, the intra group changes cut the margin by 360 basis points and the DRC levy by 220.
The results do not give figures for individual countries. In Kenya, the largest East African market by mobile money volume, Khusoko has tracked Airtel’s position against Safaricom. Communications Authority data showed Safaricom held 92.3% of Kenya’s mobile money market and Airtel 7.6% in a January 2025 report on Airtel Money’s market share in Kenya. A July 2025 follow up covered first quarter 2025 data from the Communications Authority showing Airtel gaining ground on M-Pesa.
Dividend and listing
The 6.4 cent dividend equals 81% of profit attributable to owners. The company targets a payout of at least 80%. Shareholders on the register at close of business on 20 November receive payment in US dollars. Shares trade without the dividend from 19 November. Based on 2.7 billion shares, the payout comes to about $173 million (calculated by this desk).
In the listing, existing shareholders sold 270 million shares, 10% of the company, at £1.96 each. That valued the company at about £5.3 billion, or $7.0 billion. Airtel Money raised no new capital. An option to sell up to 27 million more shares remains open during the stabilisation period.
The listing followed a delay. Khusoko reported in May that the planned Airtel Money IPO would not proceed on its original timeline, with geopolitical developments shifting market conditions and the company targeting the second half of 2026, in its coverage of Airtel Africa’s full year results. Airtel Africa had first considered a listing of the unit in March 2024, with a potential valuation above $4 billion, as Khusoko reported at the time.
The board has changed. Arijit Ranjan Sarker is independent non executive chair. Michiel de Jong, Natalia Wallenberg and Shravin Mittal joined on 3 September, and Kamiel Koot joined on 1 July. Five directors have left.
Airtel Africa reports on the parent group
Airtel Africa plc, which sold shares in the listing and kept its holding, reported its own half year results on 30 October. Revenue rose 28.2% to $3,823 million, or 20.8% in constant currency. Profit after tax rose to $452 million from $376 million. Underlying EBITDA margin was 50.3%.
Capex more than doubled to $657 million, and the company added about 4,200 sites. Leverage fell to 1.6 times from 2.1 times. The board declared an interim dividend of 3.1 cents, up 9.2%, and the company spent $108.7 million on share buybacks in the period.
Airtel Africa chief executive Sunil Taldar said the listing “represents a significant milestone for the Group” and that Airtel Africa “remain[s] a long term strategic shareholder.” On costs, he said fuel prices “continue to exert inflationary pressure” and that the company still reached an EBITDA margin of 50.4% in the second quarter.
What to watch
Investors will look at three things in the next set of numbers: whether the Airtel Money margin recovers in the second half as the company says, how the DRC levy affects Francophone earnings, and the outcome of the share option on up to 27 million shares.
The retention revenue agreement ends on 31 March 2027, which sets the end of the margin pressure the company has described.
