MTN Nigeria Records N269bn Net Profit In 9 Months

MTN Nigeria Communications Plc (MTNN) has announced a profit after tax of N269 billion in its unaudited results for the nine months ended September 30, 2022.

The company’s results released on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited revealed that profit after tax grew by 22.1 per cent from N220.312 billion in nine months 2021 to N269 billion under the period review. Earnings per share (EPS) rose by 22.1 per cent to N13.20 from N10.82 in 2021.

Mobile subscribers increased by 9.7 per cent to 74.1 million, added 5.7 million subscribers in nine months 2022. Active data users increased by 14.6 per cent to 38.0 million, an increase of 3.7 million active users; while active fintech subscribers rose by 68.7 per cent to 11.2 million

Service revenue increased by 20.6 per cent to N1.453 trillion; earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew by 23.0 per cent to N780.6 billion, while EBITDA margin increased by 1.0 percentage points (pp) to 53.6 per cent.

Speaking on the results, CEO of MTN Nigeria, Karl Toriola said: “our operating environment remained challenging in the first nine months of 2022. Against this backdrop, we continued to support our communities and sustain investment in the coverage and capacity of our 4G network and the rollout of 5G sites, with a focus on expense efficiencies and disciplined capital allocation.

“This has underpinned a resilient commercial and financial performance in the period, also enabled by the unwavering support of our customers and stakeholders, as well as the hard work and commitment of our people.”

Toriola noted that, “the investments we make to enhance the quality and coverage of our network continue to yield positive results, driving higher data usage and an expansion of our user base. We added 3.7 million active data subscribers in the nine months, with 4G population coverage at 77.1 per cent.

“4G traffic now constitutes 80.4 per cent of the total, reflecting a 9.2pp YoY increase in its contribution. Following the commercial launch in September 2022, MTN Nigeria became the first mobile network operator to roll out 5G network in Nigeria, providing coverage in key cities in the six geopolitical regions. 5G provides the foundation on which future network performance will be built and puts MTN Nigeria at the forefront of delivering technological advancements in the country.”

On outlook, MTN CEO said, the company will remain focused on building on the solid foundation of growth it has laid thus far, saying, for the rest of the year, it will continue to prioritise the coverage and capacity of its network to accommodate the rising demand for data and expand rural coverage while pursuing our home broadband strategy.