Putting customer experience at the heart of everything we do
Revenue
$4,193m
constant currency 19.6%
reported currency (3.3%)
Operating profit
$1,001m
constant currency +8.9%
reported currency (17.9%)
Underlying EBITDA
$1,910m
constant currency 14.6%
reported currency (9.7%)
ARPU
$2.2
constant currency 11.0%
reported currency (10.3%)
Rohit Marwha
Chief marketing and sales officer
1
There is huge potential for further growth in our underpenetrated markets, especially in data. But we know the market is evolving as well as growing – and our future success depends on enhancing the customer experience all the time.
2
Voice revenue ($m)
Growth percentage in constant currency
Data revenue ($m)
Growth percentage in constant currency
Summarised statement of operations
1 Mobile service revenue after inter-segment eliminations was $4,185m in the year ended 31 March 2025 and $4,330m in the prior period. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Description | Unit of measure | Year ended | Reported currency change | Constant currency change | |
Mar-25 | Mar-24 | ||||
Revenue1 | $m | 4,193 | 4,338 | (3.3%) | 19.6% |
Voice revenue | $m | 1,964 | 2,179 | (9.8%) | 10.6% |
Data revenue | $m | 1,804 | 1,734 | 4.0% | 30.5% |
Other revenue | $m | 425 | 425 | 0.0% | 21.8% |
Underlying EBITDA | $m | 1,910 | 2,115 | (9.7%) | 14.6% |
Underlying EBITDA margin | % | 45.6% | 48.8% | (320) bps | (199) bps |
Depreciation and amortisation | $m | (797) | (760) | 4.7% | 28.7% |
Operating profit | $m | 1,001 | 1,219 | (17.9%) | 8.9% |
Capex | $m | 619 | 693 | (10.8%) | (10.8%) |
Operating free cash flow | $m | 1,291 | 1,422 | (9.1%) | 31.4% |
Operating KPIs | |||||
Total customer base | million | 166.1 | 152.7 | 8.7% | |
Data customer base | million | 73.4 | 64.4 | 14.1% | |
Mobile services ARPU | $ | 2.2 | 2.5 | (10.3%) | 11.0% |
After several years of rapid growth, more customers than ever are using our voice and data services – but there are still huge opportunities ahead. Our markets remain underpenetrated with 44% unique user penetration in sub-Saharan Africa, while a young and growing population continues to show strong demand for data, in particular. The GSMA’s latest report states that across sub-Saharan Africa, unique mobile subscribers and mobile internet users are forecast to grow at CAGR of 4.5% and 6.2%, respectively, to 2030. Smartphone penetration, which is a key enabler of data growth, is at 51% in sub-Saharan Africa.
Our own performance confirms these trends – we grew our customer base by 8.7% to 166.1 million in 2024/25, with data usage in particular surging by 47%. But we know that the market is evolving as it grows, with customers even more focused on quality, affordability and user experience. There are also challenges facing the connectivity gap – including the affordability of smartphones, cybersecurity and digital skills. So listening to customer feedback, personalising customer engagement and improving our digital platforms have all been priorities this year, alongside affordability programmes with smartphone manufacturers and security enhancements. We're also expanding our physical and digital distribution networks so that more customers can access our services.
In 2024/25, we expanded our activating outlets by 8% to over 390,000 outlets. We also continued to invest in our network this year – with 4G now reaching 74.4% of the population, an increase of 3.7% year on year. Growth in underserved rural areas continued to be a priority, with over 850 new infrastructure sites in rural areas. And we now have 5G sites and/or spectrum in the DRC, Gabon, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Uganda, Seychelles, Tanzania and Zambia, ready for the next level of data growth.
Technological advances such as VoLTE (voice over long-term evolution), available in five markets and preparing in two more, are transforming customer experiences through superior voice quality and reduced connection times. Home broadband products, supported by our innovative routers and unlimited data offers, are opening new opportunities for entertainment and education. And we are supporting customers adjusting to the data usage of smartphones through our new Smarta data campaign, which helps customers get the most from their data bundles.
Overall revenue from mobile services declined by 3.3% in reported currency with growth of 19.6% in constant currency. In Q4’25, constant currency revenue growth accelerated to 21.9% from 19.6% in the prior quarter. The constant currency growth was evident across all regions and services.
Voice revenue grew by 10.6% in constant currency, supported primarily by the continued growth in the customer base as we continue to invest in our network and enhance our distribution infrastructure. The voice ARPU growth of 2.7% was supported by an increase in voice usage per customer of 4.9%, reaching 300 minutes per customer per month, with total minutes on the network increasing by 13%.
Data revenue grew by 30.5% in constant currency, driven by both customer base growth of 14.1% and data ARPU growth of 15.4%, respectively. The customer base growth was recorded across all the regions supported by the expansion of our 4G network. 97.4% of our total sites are now on 4G, compared with 95% in the prior reporting period. 5G is operational across five markets, with 1,466 sites deployed. Data usage per customer increased to 7 GB per customer per month (from 5.4 GB in the prior period), with smartphone penetration increasing 4.3% to reach 44.8%. Smartphone data usage per customer reached 8.8 GB per month compared to 7.2 GB per month in the prior period. Data revenue contributed to 43% of total mobile services revenue, up from 40% in the prior period.
Underlying EBITDA was $1,910m, down by 9.7% in reported currency and up by 14.6% in constant currency. The underlying EBITDA margin declined by 320 basis points year-on-year to 45.6%, a decline of 199 basis points in constant currency, largely due to increases in fuel prices across key markets. In Q4’25, underlying EBITDA margins of 46.3% improved from 45.7% in previous quarter (Q3’25).
Operating free cash flow was $1,291m, up by 31.4% in constant currency, due to the increased constant currency underlying EBITDA and lower capex.
Transforming lives in action
‘Smarta with data’: a musical message helping customers manage every megabyte
The revolution in network availability across our markets has enabled a rapid expansion of data use and created huge opportunities for digital and financial inclusion. But as smartphones become more popular and customers progress to 3G, 4G and 5G, the resulting jump in connection speeds means data bundles can get used faster – so cost-conscious customers need to find new ways to manage and control their usage so they can stay connected.
‘Smarta with data’ is our bold campaign to help customers manage this ‘data depletion’ challenge and get the most from their data bundles. Three of Africa’s most celebrated musicians joined us to help reach the widest audiences possible. Diamond Platinumz, Fally Ipupa and Simi created what was to become a hit song packed with tips and hacks on managing data. And our customers responded by creating their own ‘Smarta’ content on social media, describing how they maximise their data and get every MB from every bundle. The campaign was launched in seven of our biggest markets – the DRC, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia – and with 16 million song views, 380 million impressions and over 5.7 million engagement scores, it has certainly made an impression. And it supports our commitment to ensuring the essential services we provide remain good value and affordable – supporting the 14.1% growth in our data customer base in 2024/25.
