MTN reports N400b loss In 2024, to receive N74b USSD debt from banks
Telecoms giant, MTN, has revealed that out of the estimated N160 billion Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) debt owed telecoms operators by Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) as of November 2024, its share is N74 billion.
MTN, which revealed this in its financial statement as of December 31, 2024, released on Friday, said it has received N32 billion from the banks out of the N74 billion.
USSD is the platform that allows bank customers to transfer money digitally on their phones without requiring Internet access. It is an SMS-based mobile banking service where a USSD shortcode enables transactions such as transfers, bill payments, and airtime purchases.
While appreciable efforts have been made to resolve the crisis between the banks and telecoms operators, which had lingered for about five years, banks have made substantial payments.
The telecoms operators were earlier this year given a directive by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to disconnect the USSD platforms of 18 banks because of the debts.
On December 20, 2024, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and NCC issued a joint circular to resolve the long standing USSD debts impasse between Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) and Mobile Network Operators (MNOs).
MTN noted that the implementation of end user billing for USSD services at a flat fee of N6.98 per transaction conducted by DMBs and all CBN-licenced institutions brought about disputes between MNOs and the financial institutions on the applicable charges for USSD services and the method of billing.
The directive from CBN and NCC had required 60 per cent of all pre-API invoices to be paid as full and final settlement by July 2, 2025, while for post-API invoices the DMBs are required to pay 85 per cent of outstanding invoices issued after the February 2022 implementation of APIs by December 31, 2024.
“In addition, future invoices are to be settled within one month of issuance. Based on this directive, on December 31, 2024, MTN received N32 billion payments from the banks out of the N74 billion in CBN and NCC circulars to banks,” MTN stated.
Meanwhile, despite earning N3.36 trillion in revenue in 2024, MTN reported a loss after tax of N400.44 billion.
According to the company’s financial result released on Thursday, the revenue was 36.03 per cent higher from the N2.47 trillion reported in 2023, while loss climbed by 192.25 per cent from the N137.02 billion in the same period 2023.
MTN’s financial performance continues to be impacted by record-high inflation and the naira’s devaluation, exacerbating the businesses’ operational expenses.
The parent company, MTN Group, had alerted its shareholders that it was anticipating a significant decline in its earnings per share (EPS) for the full year ended December 31, 2024, primarily due to forex losses recorded from Nigeria.
The company disclosed this in a trading statement released on Thursday.
This was in fulfillment of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange listing requirements.
In the financial statement, MTN said it made significant progress in driving the growth of commercial operations, boosted by its ongoing investments in the coverage and capacity of its network to accommodate traffic growth and enhance the quality of service.
According to the company, this was a major focus of its N443.5 billion capex (ex-leases) in the year.
MTN’s subscriber base climbed further to 80.9 million, up 1.6 per cent, despite the effects of the NCC’s industry-wide directive on NIN-SIM registration.
Likewise, active data subscribers grew by seven per cent to 47.7 million.
“Our diligent gross connection and churn management initiatives, including ongoing innovation in our customer value propositions, supported the growth of our subscriber base,” Toriola said.
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