MTN Nigeria has reported a strong turnaround in the first half as operating conditions in the West African nation improved. The company reported profit after tax of N414.9bn (R4.9bn) for the six months ended June after a loss of N519.1bn a year ago.
Earnings per share rose to 19.8 kobo from a loss of 4.7 kobo a year ago. Ebitda increased by 119.5% to N1.2-trillion.
The turnaround saw MTN’s shares on the JSE performing best on the day, up 5.61% to R153.35.
Total subscribers increased by 6.7% to 84.7-million, with active data users up 11.8% to 51-million.
Service revenue increased by 54.6% to N2.4-trillion.
“Building on the momentum from the first quarter, we delivered strong growth in service revenue for the period under review. This was driven by robust demand for our services, proactive customer value management and price adjustments, mainly in the second quarter,” CEO Karl Toriola said.
The macroeconomic conditions in Nigeria showed notable improvements in the period, including a relatively stable naira, improved foreign-exchange liquidity and easing inflationary pressures, the group said.
During the period, the group completed the phased implementation of the new price adjustments across voice and data bundles, largely benefiting the second quarter.
As part of its strategy to expand capacity and meet the growing demand for services, it launched the first phase of its $240m Dabengwa Tier 3 data centre in July.
After recalibrating its fintech strategy earlier this year, the company said it was encouraged by the positive trends observed in the second quarter and the renewed momentum in the broader ecosystem. During the June quarter, it added about 562,000 customers, bringing active wallets to 2.7-million.
Given the strong momentum in its business performance, MTN Nigeria has revised up its financial year 2025 guidance and now targets service revenue growth of “at least low-50%” and and ebitda margin of “at least low-50%”.
“With our strong operational momentum and continued focus on efficiencies, we are on track to restore positive retained earnings and net asset positions by the end of the third quarter of 2025,” it said.
In terms of its medium-term guidance (from 2026 onwards), it is targeting average service revenue growth of “at least low-20%” and an ebitda margin in the 53%-55% range based on current economic assumptions and no price adjustments, it said.
It said it expected to sustain strong operational and financial growth momentum in the second half of 2025, supported by a more stable macroeconomic and regulatory environment, continued demand for services, the benefit of recent price adjustments and network investments.
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