Sonatel First-Quarter Revenue Grows 7% on Data, Mobile Money Demand

Daba Finance/Sonatel Revenue Grows 7% in First Quarter on Data, Mobile Money

BREAKING NEWSApril 20, 2026 at 12:14 PM UTC

TLDR

Groupe Sonatel's revenue grew by 6.9% to XOF 504.2 billion, with a significant increase in profit margins, reflecting efficient cost management and solid financial performance.
The company's net profit reached XOF 113.8 billion, driven by a notable increase in free cash flow, supported by strategic investments in fibre, 4G, and 5G technologies.
Sonatel's competitive landscape is evolving, highlighted by the launch of satellite internet service in Senegal and a national data center in Guinea, positioning the company for continued growth and expansion in the connectivity infrastructure sector.

Groupe Sonatel, the Orange-branded telecom operator spanning Senegal, Mali, Guinea, and Sierra Leone, opened 2026 with revenue growth of 6.9% to XOF 504.2 billion ($904 million at 557 XOF/USD), as demand for data, mobile money, and fixed broadband continued to outpace the drag from a shrinking mobile voice base.

The more important signal was in profit margins. EBITDA grew faster than revenue — up 9.8% to XOF 242.6 billion — meaning the company converted each additional franc of revenue into more cash than the year before. That margin expansion, at 48% of revenue, is what investors should track: it says Sonatel (BRVM: SNTS) is managing its cost base through a period of rising energy prices and increasing network investment without letting margin slip.

Net profit reached XOF 113.8 billion ($204 million), up 4.5%, and free cash flow more than doubled — rising 141.8% to XOF 114.7 billion — driven in part by the timing of capital expenditures. Capex came in at XOF 83.4 billion, representing 16.5% of revenue, as the company pushed forward investment in fibre, 4G, and 5G.

On the customer side, the mobile base shrank 2.9% year-on-year to 40.7 million, a consequence of tighter SIM registration rules imposed by regulators across the group's markets. Everything else grew: 4G users rose nearly 17%, fibre subscribers jumped 26.5%, and Orange Money's active base grew 5.5% to 13.6 million — the figure that matters most for long-term revenue diversification, since mobile money now competes directly with banks for the region's unbanked population.

The quarter also saw the launch of Sonatel's satellite internet service in Senegal, in partnership with Eutelsat, and the opening of Guinea's first national data centre — 2 infrastructure moves that extend the group's reach beyond mobile into connectivity infrastructure.

Key Takeaways

The competitive context around Sonatel has shifted in a way that deserves attention from investors on the BRVM. The satellite launch was partly defensive: Starlink, Elon Musk's SpaceX service, is expected to enter Senegal in 2026, and Sonatel moved early by partnering with Eutelsat to offer satellite broadband at XOF 30,000 per month for households — the same price as Starlink in neighbouring Benin. Sonatel's unions and sector peers have lobbied the telecom regulator ARTP to ensure Starlink is held to the same regulatory framework as local operators, a debate that signals how seriously the incumbents take the threat. Sonatel's advantage is infrastructure depth — it now claims 99% coverage of Senegal through the combined satellite, fibre, and mobile network — and the trust embedded in its Orange Money franchise, which 13.6 million customers use for transactions that were previously outside the banking system. For investors, the free cash flow surge is the most actionable data point in this quarter: it gives Sonatel room to sustain the XOF 1 million additional fibre socket rollout it has committed to by 2028 without stretching its balance sheet, even as satellite competition heats up.

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