By Adedapo Adesanya
MTN Nigeria has recorded a 28.1 per cent rise in profit after tax (PAT) to N181.6 billion in the first half of the year, with profit before tax (PBT) up by 24.9 per cent to N268.6 billion and earnings per share (EPS) rising by 28.1 per cent to N8.92.
According to the company in its unaudited results for the half-year ended June 30, 2022, the capital expenditure (Capex) rose by 67.1 per cent to N311.6 billion (up 78.6 per cent to N204.5 billion, excluding the right of use assets.
The financial statements also showed that there were a lot of increases led by active fintech subscribers which rose by 87.3 per cent to 11.5 million, driven by MoMo wallets since launching the payment service bank on May 19, 2022.
Active data users increased by 13.2 per cent to 36.8 million as it added 2.5 million active users in H1 2022 while mobile subscribers increased by 7.6 per cent to 74.1 million, indicating a growth of 5.7 million subscribers in the period.
Others include an increase in service revenue by 19.9 per cent to N947.9 billion; as earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) grew by 22.1 per cent to N509.3 billion; while EBITDA margin increased by 0.9 percentage points (pp) to 53.6 per cent.
The telco’s interim dividend was pegged at N5.60 per share, up by 23.1 per cent.
MTN’s operating expenses (opex) in the first six months of the year increased by 15.1 per cent due to the effects of Naira depreciation and higher Dollar consumer price index (CPI) on lease rental costs.
The firm also blamed the rising energy costs in the West African nation as part of the reasons for its increased expenses.
Similarly, its cost of sales went up by 22.9 per cent as the firm spent N162bn in the first six months of 2022, compared to N132bn spent in the corresponding period.
In the report, the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr Karl Toriola, said the company saved costs via its expense efficiency programme.
“We continue to realize cost savings through our expense efficiency programme, and we remain disciplined with capital allocation. Cost of sales rose by 22.9 per cent off a low base in the prior year, which was depressed by the suspension of new Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) sales and activations by the regulator, lower device purchases during the period, and the impact of growing gross connections in the current year.
“Operating expenses (opex) increased by 15.1 per cent due to the effects of naira depreciation and higher dollar CPI on lease rental costs, the acceleration in our site rollout and rising energy costs. The escalation of diesel prices in Nigeria contributed to the 12.2 per cent increase in direct network operating costs with a 0.3 per cent earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) margin impact,” he said.
MTN, in its outlook for the year, stressed that it has continued to witness strong headwinds such as rising general inflation, paucity of foreign exchange, supply chain disruptions, and higher diesel and petrol prices, which it said placed more financial pressure on its customers, as well as its business.
It, however, looked forward to a surge in subscriber base in the third quarter of the year. The firm stated that the growth would be based on how well it regains subscribers lost to the National Identity Numbers (NIN) enrolment.
The telco planned to commence the rollout of 5G services in all of Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones from the third quarter (Q3) of 2022.
