MTN Nigeria has reported a “significant turnaround” in its bottom line in the March quarter, as the group added 3.2-million new subscribers to the network, bringing its total base to 84.1-million — an increase of 8.2%.
MTN’s Nigerian operations have had a torrid time during almost two years of financial pain brought on by a policy change that saw Nigeria’s currency crashing, losing more than half of its value.
MTN CEO Ralph Mupita said earlier this year he was bullish that the group’s largest business was now in recovery. “We’re encouraged and leaning in very strongly on what we see as a recovery year for us in Nigeria,”
Like many other companies operating in Nigeria, MTN has been a casualty of the devastation caused by the Nigerian naira’s more than 70% plunge since mid-2023.
MTN Nigeria reported a profit after tax of 133.7-billion naira (about R15.38m) for the quarter ended March after a loss of 392.7-billion naira in the prior year.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) increased by 65.9% to 492.7-billion naira, while the Ebitda margin expanded by 7.2 percentage points to 46.6%
Active data users rose by 13% to 50.3-million with 2.6-million active users added in the first quarter.
“We are pleased with our performance in the first quarter of 2025, which reflects the continued execution of our strategic priorities and the resilience of demand for our services,” said MTN Nigeria CEO Karl Toriola
“Building on the momentum from quarter four 2024, our quarter one results place us firmly on the path to restoring profitability and achieving a positive net asset position within the current financial year, while increasing our investments to improve network and service quality.”
Though macroeconomic uncertainties persist, Toriola said the group was encouraged by the relative stability of the naira during the period and the moderation in inflation following the rebasing of the CPI in January.
During the quarter, MTN Nigeria received regulatory approval for price adjustments, a critical enabler to sustain ongoing investment in the industry and maintain the quality of service for customers.
“This has empowered us to accelerate network investments with 202.4-billion naira in capex (up 159%), focused on boosting capacity and improving user experience. We also continued to explore efficiency-enhancing opportunities through infrastructure-sharing partnerships,” he said.
A key milestone was the agreement between MTN Group and Airtel Africa to collaborate on passive infrastructure in Nigeria, enabling accelerated coverage and driving network cost efficiencies.
MTN started phased implementation of the new tariff structure in mid-February across its data and voice bundles, with the majority of adjustments taking effect in March. The full effect on usage and revenue was expected from the second quarter, he said.
Service revenue grew 40.5% and data revenue rose 51.5%, driven by active user base growth and higher data consumption. Data traffic increased by 46.4%, while average usage per subscriber grew by 29.5% to 12.8GB.
“We added about four-million smartphones onto the network during the quarter, bringing smartphone penetration to 60.7%, underscoring rising demand for high-speed data services.
“Our focused strategy on subscriber acquisition, retention, and usage continued to support top-line growth in voice, in terms of which revenue increased by 27.7%, bolstered by price adjustments and sustained usage trends,” MTN said.
Fintech revenue increased 57.9%, primarily driven by the strong performance of the group’s airtime lending product (Xtratime) and higher float income, supported by the onboarding of high-value customers.
With Mudiwa Gavaza
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