MTN earns N98b half year profit, adds 3.3m new subscribers

Telecommunications firm, MTN has earned N98.9 billion profit in the first half of 2019, ended June 30 and added 3.3 million new subscribers to its network, pushing its subscribers base in Nigeria to 61.5 million.It explained that its service revenue increased by 12.2 per cent; voice revenue by 11.4 per cent, while data earnings grew by 31.7 per cent.

Its result released yesterday indicated that its Fintech revenue increased 21.2 per cent, while earnings from its digital businesses increased by 64.5 per cent.

The telecommunications firm, which made significant changes in its Nigerian board composition on Wednesday, said with its compliance to the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS 16), its Profit Before Tax (PBT) stood at N141.797b, Profit After Tax (PAT) amounted to N98.931, and Earnings per share stood at 486k as at June 30, 2019.

Giving more insight on the half year report, Chief Executive Officer, Ferdi Moolman, said: “In the first half of 2019, we sustained a solid performance, delivering double-digit growth in service revenue, underpinned by growth in voice and data revenue.

“We added 3.3 million customers to our network, increasing subscriber base to 61.5 million. Pleasingly, we saw data subscribers increase in the period by 2.1 million to 20.7 million.

“We made significant network investments to improve network quality and expand our 4G coverage. Our recent effort to revamp our data prices and accelerate our 4G network put us in a strong competitive position to offer more value to our customers, supporting data and voice revenue growth which will ultimately strengthen our business.

“We are pleased with obtaining a super-agent license from the Central Bank of Nigeria, which will enable us to build agent network and accelerate the growth our Fintech business.” He added that MTN Nigeria was successfully listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in May, making it the first mobile network operators to list on the NSE.

He said the listing demonstrated its commitment to the Nigerian market and provided local investors with an opportunity to participate in and benefit from the Company’s growth prospects.

“We made changes in our Board following the retirement of six pioneer Non-Executive Directors at the expiration of their tenures and in conjunction with applicable corporate governance codes.

“We express our heartfelt appreciation to our out-going Directors for their contributions to the success of the Company. We also welcome the incoming ones whose combination of extensive experience across the worlds of technology, finance, regulatory and policy development and corporate governance offers hugely synergistic set of skills that will be of great benefit to us as we move into a new phase of growth.’’