The News:
- MTN Ghana’s service revenue increased by 34.5% in 2024, reaching GHS 17.9 billion ($1.1 billion).
- Data revenue grew by 53.8%, totalling GHS 9.0 billion ($581 million), now accounting for 50.2% of total service revenue.
- Mobile Money (MoMo) revenue rose by 54.4% to GHS 4.4 billion ($284 million), contributing 24.9% to total service revenue.
- The company’s profit after tax increased by 26.3% to GHS 5.0 billion ($322 million).
MTN Ghana has reported a robust financial performance for the 2024 fiscal year, with service revenue surpassing the company’s medium-term target.
A significant contributor to this surge is the remarkable growth in data revenue, which soared by 53.8% year-on-year to GHS 9.0 billion ($581 million). This uptick is attributed to a 13.7% increase in active data subscribers, reaching 17.5 million, and a 19.0% rise in average megabytes consumed per user.
Consequently, data revenue now constitutes 50.2% of total service revenue, up from 43.9% in 2023.
Mobile Money (MoMo) services also played a pivotal role in MTN Ghana’s financial success. MoMo revenue grew by 54.4% to GHS 4.4 billion ($284 million), driven by a 12.8% increase in active users to 17.2 million and the expansion of advanced services such as digital payments and lending, which saw an 82.8% year-on-year growth. MoMo’s contribution to total service revenue rose to 24.9%, up from 21.7% in the previous year.
In contrast, voice revenue experienced a slight decline of 0.9% to GHS 3.5 billion ($225 million), reflecting a continued shift from traditional calls to voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP) services. While overall call usage increased by 13.5%, the contribution of voice revenue to total service revenue decreased to 19.7%, down from 26.8% in 2023.
The company’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) grew by 31.3% to GHS 10.2 billion, although the EBITDA margin declined by 1.4 percentage points to 57.1%. This margin contraction is attributed to macroeconomic challenges and base effects from the management fee adjustment in 2023.
MTN Ghana’s profit after tax rose by 26.3% to GHS 5.0 billion, despite a 59.7% increase in direct tax charges to GHS 2.6 billion ($167 million). The company reaffirmed its role as a key fiscal contributor, paying GHS 8.6 billion ($555 million) in direct and indirect taxes, alongside GHS 468.4 million in fees, levies, and other regulatory payments—equivalent to 50.3% of total revenue.
However, despite MTN Ghana’s strong performance, MTN Group recorded a ₦400.4 billion ($267 million) loss after tax for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2024. This was attributed to severe foreign exchange losses, particularly in Nigeria, where the devaluation of the naira significantly impacted the company’s earnings.
The Group faced major currency headwinds, resulting in a decline in overall profitability despite revenue growth in several subsidiaries. The contrast between MTN Ghana’s success and the Group’s overall loss highlights the challenges of operating across diverse African markets with varying economic conditions.
In the first half of 2024, MTN Ghana reported a 31.2% year-on-year increase in service revenue to GHS 8.1 billion ($522 million). During this period, mobile subscribers grew to 28.4 million, with an additional 0.6 million customers added in Q1. Active data subscribers reached 16.4 million, and active MoMo users increased by 16.2% to 16.5 million.
Revenue from MoMo grew by 44.8%, while digital revenue surged by 59.4%, driven by video, gaming, and ring-back tones. Additionally, MTN Ghana invested GHS 2.8 billion ($180 million) in network quality, coverage, capacity, and IT systems.
Despite these challenges, the company remains committed to executing its Ambition 2025 Strategy, focusing on sustained growth and enhancing its platform strategy. MTN Ghana’s performance in 2024 highlights its adaptability and strategic focus on data and digital financial services, positioning the company for continued growth in the evolving telecommunications landscape
