MTN Uganda benefited from lower inflation and a stable currency, which helped the group boost earnings by 17% in the 2025 financial year.
The group reported a 13.6% increase in total revenue to 2.6-trillion Uganda shillings for the year ended December, with service revenue up 13.4%, supported by strong demand for data and fintech services.
Total data revenue grew by 28.8%, driven by a net increase of 1.8-million active data users to 12-million. Smartphone penetration reached 42.8%, supported by a 4.9% increase in smartphones on the network through device financing.
“We continued to advance our “own-the-home” strategy with strong uptake of home solutions, where subscribers grew by 97.3% as we prioritised service quality, acquisition and retention,“ said CEO Sylvia Mulinge.
Fintech revenue increased by 17.3%, supported by strong MoMo performance and recovery in XtraTime.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) increased by 17%, to 1.9-trillion Uganda shillings, driven by disciplined cost management under the expense efficiency programme, which delivered 64.1-billion Uganda shillings in savings and strong revenue performance.
Total subscribers increased by 10% to 24.2-million, with active data subscribers up 18.6% and fintech subscribers rising 6.5%.
“We are encouraged by the favourable macroeconomic conditions, characterised by low inflation and a stable currency, which supported business confidence and investment,” said Mulinge.
Inflation remained stable, averaging 3.6%, and the Uganda shilling appreciated for the second consecutive year, supported by improved export receipts from gold and coffee and increased foreign direct investment and international remittances. Uganda posted a balance-of-payments surplus for the first time in 15 years.
“This strong financial performance was achieved despite the adverse impacts of regulatory cuts to mobile termination rates (MTR) and demonstrates the resilience and agility of our operations,” she said.
A final dividend of 8.25 Uganda shillings per share was declared, taking the total dividend for the year to 28.75 Uganda shillings.
With the Ugandan central bank projecting economic growth of 6.5-7.0% in financial year 2025/26, inflation and currency stability are expected to remain favourable. Downside risks persist, particularly from geopolitical tensions and potential volatility in global commodity prices, she said.
“The anticipated macroeconomic tailwinds from foreign investments, coupled with contained food inflation due to good rains should support consumer spending and business stability as we enter the next phase of growth,” said Mulinge.
The group maintained its medium-term guidance of “upper-teens” service revenue growth while maintaining a stable ebitda margin above 50%.
“We however expect an uptick in capex intensity (excluding leases) from the ‘low-teens’ guidance to ‘mid-teens’ as we invest strategically to meet our license obligations this year and strengthen our market position,“ she said.
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