The company’s Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation, and Amortisation (EBITDA), grew by 27.6 percent to reach N417.2 billion. The EBITDA margin improved by 1.4 percentage points to 52.7 percent and its Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) was up by 39.1 percent to reach N186.4 billion. Its dividend per share also jumped 30 percent to N4.55 kobo.
Details of the telecoms company’s operational review for the half-year showed that the company experienced significant growth.
According to the report rendered by the company’s CEO, Karl Toriola, Service Revenue grew by 24.1 percent year over year. Toriola commented that the growth was “driven by the sustained growth in data and also partly due to the lower base in comparative 2020 voice revenue that resulted from lockdowns during that period.”
Voice revenue saw an increase of 13.1 percent and this can be accredited to an 11.8 percent increase in traffic and it’s customer value management (CVM) initiatives. The CEO said that “the impact on voice revenue from the industry-wide suspension of new SIM registration was partly offset by higher usage in our active SIM base as well as migration to a higher quality of experience.”
Data revenue rose by 48.3 percent, which according to Toriola, “continued the positive momentum from H2 2020.” He explained that the rise was driven by increased usage from the existing base, supported by the acceleration in MTN’s 4G rollout and enhanced network capacity following the acquisition and activation of an additional 800MHz spectrum in H1.
The report showed that data traffic rose by 83 percent year over year, while smartphone penetration was up by 5.8pp to 49.3 percent. Toriola added that MTN’s 4G network now covers 65.1 percent of the population, up from 60.1 percent in December 2020.
Fintech revenue rose by 48.2 percent, which according to him, was driven by increased adoption of Xtratime and our core fintech services. MTN Nigeria’s MoMo agents increased by 121,000 in H1 2021 to more than 515,000. Transaction volume increased by 280.8 percent year over year to 55.6 million in H1 2021, and the active subscriber base rose 180 percent to 6.1 million. Digital revenue benefitted from rich media and value-added services and increased by 61.8 percent. The active user base rose by 38.0 percent to over 3.9 million, led by Ayoba – MTN’s instant messaging platform, with more than 2.3 million active users. The enterprise business revenue also increased by 6.0 percent.
Commenting further on the company’s H1 results, Toriola said that “the company made good progress in strengthening the resilience of the business, managing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and enhancing support to our people, customers, and other stakeholders.”
The telecommunications company however reported losses in the number of mobile subscribers and data subscriptions. According to the report, mobile subscribers declined by 7.6 million to 68.9 million, impacted by the regulatory restrictions on the sale of new SIM cards. The company also lost about 52,000 active data users.
The year 2021 would mark the 20th anniversary of MTN’s presence in Nigeria, and in celebration, MTN announced that its Board of Directors has approved the company’s participation in the Road Infrastructure Tax Credit (RITC) Scheme.
Toriola explained that the scheme is in response to the government’s drive towards public-private partnerships in the rehabilitation of critical road infrastructure in Nigeria, and added that MTN Nigeria plans to participate in the restoration and refurbishment of the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway, with discussions already being made about the subject.
Toriola also promised that MTN would continue to invest in improved world class services and its network, accelerating the expansion of its 4G coverage and providing home broadband.
Ibhadojemu Lucky Emmanuel is a graduate of Education and Economics from the University of Benin. He has a passion for tech and business and has been writing professionally for over a period of five years. He's written across various topics and segments and knew tech-business was it when he first stumbled on it. He has a great passion for music and arts, and wants to visit as many countries as he can someday.
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