2025 financial results: Comparing MTN & Airtel Uganda revenue, profits, other key figures

MTN Uganda and Airtel Uganda both posted strong results for the year ended December 31, 2025, but the figures show clear differences in size, profitability and customer scale.

MTN remained the bigger company on the most comparable measures. It reported service revenue of Shs 3.6 trillion, while Airtel reported total income of about Shs 2.25 trillion, including revenue of Shs 2.23 trillion and other income of Shs 16.8 billion.

These are not exactly the same measure, so the comparison is not perfect. Service revenue means money earned from core services such as calls, internet and mobile money. Total income is broader because it also includes other income. Even so, the figures show MTN generated far more money from its business in 2025.

Both companies grew at a similar pace. MTN’s service revenue rose 13.4 per cent, while Airtel’s total income grew by about 13.3 per cent from Shs 1.99 trillion in 2024 to Shs 2.25 trillion in 2025. This shows that both telecom firms expanded strongly during the year.

On profit, MTN again led. It posted profit after tax of Shs 678.8 billion, compared with Airtel’s Shs 446.9 billion. Profit after tax simply means the money left after paying all expenses and tax. MTN’s reported profit rose 5.8 per cent, while Airtel’s profit after tax increased much faster from Shs 316.7 billion to Shs 446.9 billion.

That means Airtel recorded the stronger growth rate in bottom-line profit, even though MTN still made more profit in absolute terms.

MTN also provided a second profit figure adjusted for a one-off tax settlement with the Uganda Revenue Authority.

On that basis, its profit would have been Shs 789.7 billion, up 23.1 per cent.

Since Airtel did not provide a similar adjusted profit figure in the material above, that number is best viewed on its own and not compared directly.

A clearer operating comparison comes from earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, commonly called EBITDA.

This shows how much a company earns from its core business before finance costs, tax and some accounting charges are taken out.

MTN reported EBITDA of Shs 1.9 trillion, up 17.0 per cent, with an EBITDA margin of 53.8 per cent, up from 52.2 per cent in 2024. An EBITDA margin shows how much of every shilling of revenue is kept as core operating earnings.

Airtel did not provide EBITDA in the figures above, so this is another area where a direct comparison cannot be made.

For Airtel, the closest comparable figure is operating profit, which rose 35 per cent to Shs 849.2 billion, with an operating profit margin of 37.7 per cent.

Operating profit is what remains after normal operating expenses are removed. It gives a useful picture of business performance, but it is not the same as EBITDA because EBITDA excludes depreciation and amortisation while operating profit includes them.

For readers, the simple takeaway is that MTN’s core earnings were larger, while Airtel also showed strong improvement in its underlying business.

The data business was a major growth driver for both firms.

MTN’s data revenue rose 28.8 per cent to Shs 1.0 trillion. Airtel said data revenue and value-added services rose to Shs 1.10 trillion from Shs 899.7 billion.

This means Airtel’s data and related digital services slightly exceeded MTN’s data revenue in value, although the categories are not identical.

MTN gave more detail on usage, saying active internet users rose 18.6 per cent to 12.0 million, data traffic grew 51.2 per cent, and average usage per subscriber increased 20.0 per cent.

Airtel said growth came from increased data usage and more customers using data services, but it did not disclose a separate number for active data users in the figures used here.

Voice revenue remained important to both companies, though it grew more slowly than data.

MTN’s voice revenue rose 1.0 per cent to Shs 1.3 trillion. Airtel’s voice revenue, including interconnect, rose to Shs 1.03 trillion from Shs 995.5 billion. MTN therefore remained ahead in voice revenue as well.

However, MTN also showed that voice is becoming less central to the business. Voice contributed 35.7 per cent of MTN’s service revenue in 2025, down from 40.1 per cent in 2024, as customers increasingly shifted to data and fintech services.

Airtel’s figures point in the same direction, though no direct contribution percentage was given.

MTN had the advantage in customer numbers. Its total mobile subscribers increased 10 per cent to 24.2 million. Airtel said its total customer base increased 19.2 per cent, but it did not state the final customer number in the figures provided above.

That means Airtel grew faster in percentage terms, but MTN’s disclosed base shows very large scale.

The biggest gap between the two companies appears in mobile money and fintech, where MTN released far more detail.

MTN’s fintech revenue rose 17.3 per cent to Shs 1.1 trillion, slightly ahead of Airtel’s data and value-added services figure of Shs 1.10 trillion, though these are different business lines and should not be treated as the same thing.

MTN had 14.7 million active mobile money users, 241,100 agents, and 114,800 merchants accepting payments.

Customers carried out 5.0 billion transactions worth Shs 195.5 trillion. MTN also said advanced services such as payments, loans and savings made up 30.6 per cent of fintech revenue, while fintech contributed 31.2 per cent of service revenue.

Airtel’s figures above did not provide matching mobile money numbers, so this part of the business cannot be compared properly from the available data.

MTN also disclosed stronger network expansion figures.

It invested Shs 549.4 billion in network infrastructure and upgrades, while total capital expenditure reached Shs 843.6 billion.

Capital expenditure simply means money spent on long-term assets such as towers, fibre and equipment.

Airtel said rising depreciation and amortisation followed the addition of 258 sites during the year, which confirms network expansion, but it did not give a directly matching capital expenditure number in the material above.

MTN also reported 4G population coverage of 88.6 per cent, 3G coverage of 96.2 per cent, 126 new 5G sites, and 5G coverage of 19.0 per cent. Its fibre network expanded to 27,037 kilometres.

Airtel’s comparable coverage figures were not included in the information here.

On cash generation, both firms looked strong.

MTN reported adjusted free cash flow of Shs 1.1 trillion, up 9.7 per cent. Free cash flow is the money left after a company pays for the investments needed to run and expand the business.

Airtel reported net cash generated from operating activities of Shs 1.01 trillion, up from Shs 880.0 billion in 2024. Operating cash flow is not the same as free cash flow, because it does not subtract all capital spending, so these figures should be read carefully.

Still, both companies generated large amounts of cash from their operations.

Debt levels also appear manageable for both firms, though again the measures are not identical.

MTN said its net debt-to-EBITDA ratio was 0.7 times, which indicates low debt relative to earnings.

Airtel said its leverage ratio, including lease liabilities, was 1.5 times EBITDA, and that total market debt fell from Shs 653.5 billion in 2024 to Shs 645.0 billion in 2025.

A leverage ratio shows how much debt a company has compared with earnings. A lower ratio usually suggests lower debt pressure. On the figures disclosed, MTN appears less leveraged.

Shareholder payouts were high at both firms.

MTN recommended a final dividend of Shs 8.25 per share, equal to Shs 184.7 billion, bringing total dividends for the year to Shs 28.75 per share, or Shs 643.7 billion.

Airtel’s directors recommended a final dividend of Shs 3.55 per share, to be paid to shareholders on the register at the close of business on April 8, 2026, and paid on or before April 29, 2026.

Airtel also paid Shs 404.0 billion in dividends during the year, including the final dividend for the previous year and an interim dividend for 2025. MTN’s payout was clearly larger in shilling terms.

Overall, the 2025 figures show that MTN Uganda remained ahead on revenue, profit, customer scale and disclosed mobile money strength, while Airtel Uganda delivered strong growth, especially in profit and data-led revenue expansion.

MTN looked stronger on size and breadth of disclosed performance. Airtel looked sharper on profit growth rate.