MTN posts 57% surge in Q3 data revenue, subscribers hit 75 million

October 29

15:55 2020

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MTN Nigeria, the country’s biggest telecommunication company by market share, printed a 57 percent data revenue surge in the nine-month period that ended on September 30, 2020.

This is buoyed by COVID-19 restrictions that saw corporates adopting remote working operations.

Figures from its nine months result show that active data users increased by 1.7 million to 30.7 million people for the period, as total revenues surged by 13.9 percent to N975.7 billion.

Total mobile subscribers increased by 3.9 million to 75 million, profit before tax (PBT) declined by 0.6 percent to N211.6 billion, while earnings per share fell by 3.3 percent to N7.1 per share.

MTN Nigeria added 2.9 million new smartphones to its network in the quarter, bringing smartphone penetration to 45.2 percent up from 43.5 percent in Q2 and 41.7 percent in Q3, 2019.

Revenue from digital and fintech services rose by 114.3 percent and 28.3 percent respectively for the period, as fintech subscribers increased by 1.2 million in the quarter to 3.4 million, driving higher transaction volumes and fintech revenue growth.

MTN Nigeria’s 4G network now covers 52.9 percent of the population, up from 48.6 percent in Q2 and 35.4 percent in Q3 2019.

The firm recorded free cash flow of N303.6 billion for the period, as capital expenditure hit N194.2 billion, up 26.1 percent.

“In the third quarter, we saw volatility in both voice and data revenue affecting the trajectory of our overall service revenue, as well as pressure in costs, which continues to impact our operating margins, dampening profitability,” the report read.

“Following a decline in voice traffic and acceleration in data during the lockdown in Q2, we have seen a normalisation of traffic as restrictions have been removed with a recovery in voice traffic and continued growth in data. This has supported a 13.9 percent growth in service revenue with an acceleration of growth to 16.5 percent in Q3.”

Shares of MTN Nigeria have gained 33.33 percent in value this year; it traded at N142 on October 6 — the highest since May 23, 2019 when it traded at N149 — and it currently trades at N140 as at October 28.