MTN Nigeria prioritises subscriber recovery and tariff adjustments following ₦514.9 billion loss

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October 31, 2024
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2 min read
MTN's office
  • MTN Nigeria has announced its financial results for the nine months ending September 30, 2024, reporting a 0.9% decrease in total subscribers to 77.0 million, impacted by the NIN-SIM directive.
  • The telco closed the nine-month period with a loss after tax of ₦514.9 billion against ₦14.9 billion in the corresponding period of 2023.
  • Service revenue increased by 33.6%, while fintech revenue grew by 18.0%; however, active mobile money (MoMo PSB) wallets declined by 21.8%.

Overall, the NIN-SIM verification exercise led Nigerian mobile network operators to lose 64.3 million subscriptions, though MTN and Airtel maintained their top market positions.

Within the period, in its fintech business, MTN Nigeria focused on enhancing wallet quality, advanced services, and the MoMo PSB app. 

In August 2024, MTN Nigeria acquired a 7.17% minority stake in MoMo Payment Service Bank (MoMo PSB) from Acxani Capital, making MoMo PSB a wholly-owned subsidiary of MTN Nigeria. Two months after the acquisition, MoMo PSB launched an inbound remittance service.

The telco’s EBITDA declined by 5.3% to ₦860.2 billion. MTN attributed the pressure on EBITDA to naira depreciation, contributed by higher energy costs and general inflation.

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During the period, MTN Nigeria renegotiated tower lease contracts with IHS Towers where the renegotiated agreements also included an energy cost component linked to the cost of providing diesel power.

Recall that the telco has been granted permission to generate 15.94 megawatts (MW) of electricity across four captive power plants in Lagos State.

Moreover, Airtel Africa, another telco with operations in Nigeria, highlighting its renewal of tower lease agreements with American Tower Corporation (ATC), mentioned a focus on renewable energy solutions, particularly for a significant number of sites in Nigeria, to reduce diesel dependency and operating costs.

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In the final quarter of 2024, MTN aims to prioritise the recovery of its subscriber base impacted by the NIN-SIM directive. It also intends to remain engaged with regulatory authorities to make tariff adjustments to support the recovery of its profitability.

Meanwhile, Karl Toriola, CEO of MTN Nigeria, stated that “if the tariff doesn’t go up, the telco will shut down,” reiterating the need for the telecommunications sector to return to profitability to sustain its operations, as telcos call for tariff increases in response to economic challenges.

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