By Adedapo Adesanya
MTN Nigeria Plc grew its profit after tax by 5.6 percent to N51.1 billion in the first quarter of 2020 compared with N48.4 billion reported during the same period in 2019.
This information was contained in the telecommunications company’s interim financial statements for the first three months of this year sent to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Wednesday.
In addition, the company’s revenue for the period grew by 16.7 percent to N329.2 billion from N282.1 billion recorded in Q1 2019.
MTN Nigeria, the leading telecommunications firm in the country, explained that the increase in its revenue came from voice calls and data subscriptions from its expanded customer base.
It further noted that its mobile subscribers increased to 68.5 million during Q1 2020 from 4.2 million the corresponding time of 2019, while there was equally a rise in active data subscribers to 26.8 million from 1.7 million during the comparative period.
Before taxation, the company saw a profit growth of 8.9 percent during the period to N79.3 billion in contrast to N70.1 billion in the same period 2019.
MTN Nigeria’s Earnings Per Share (EPS) also went up by 5.6 percent to N2.51 from N2.38 as at Q1 2019.
The firm further said its total equity rose by 35.3 percent to N195.7 billion during the quarter compared with N144.7 billion in Q1 2019.
In a statement attached to the financial report, MTN Nigeria’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr Ferdi Moolman, stated that the solid performance from the first quarter built on the momentum recorded in the final quarter of 2019.
“We recorded a solid performance in the first quarter, building on the growth momentum we achieved in Q4 2019.
“Service revenue was strong and rose by 16.7 percent driven by voice and data revenue; 4.2 million subscribers were added to the network, driving voice revenue growth of 7.4 percent.
“We continued to deepen penetration with the further rollout of 4G sites, increasing 4G coverage to 48 per cent in Q1 2020 from 44 per cent as at year-end 2019,” he said.
MTN Nigeria noted that the Value Added Tax (VAT), which was increased in February 2020 from 5 percent to 7.5 percent by the federal government, affected both revenue and costs, as there were changes in patterns following the implement of the new charges.
Dipo Olowookere