Telecommunications group MTN Nigeria has achieved double-digit growth during the nine months ended September 30.

The group posted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) of N780.6-billion, an increase of 23%, with an Ebitda margin increase of one percentage points to 53.6%.

During the nine months under review, earnings a share increased by 22.1% to N13.20 kobo, while profit before tax grew by 24.7% to N400.7-billion and profit after tax expanded 22.1% to N269-billion.

Further, MTN Nigeria’s mobile subscribers increased by 9.7% to 74.1-million after adding 5.7-million subscribers during the period under review.

MTN Nigeria achieved a 20.6% increase in service revenue to N1 452.7-billion during the nine months to September 30, in line with the group’s medium-term guidance of at least 20%, after a strong recovery in the third quarter of 2022.

“Growth was broad-based across our key revenue lines, such as voice, data, fintech and digital services,” says MTN Nigeria CEO Karl Toriola.

In the nine months under review, voice revenue grew by 4.4%, while data revenue rose by 49.1%.

Data traffic surged by 70.6%, with fourth-generation (4G) traffic accounting for 78.6% of overall traffic, while data use – MB per user – increased by 52.2%.

Active data users increased by 14.6% to 38-million, with 3.7-million additional active users, and active fintech subscribers rose by 68.7% to 11.2-million with the addition of 1.8-million active Mobile Money (MoMo) wallets since the launch of the MoMo payment service bank (PSB).

Fintech revenue increased by 21.9%, with fintech active users increasing 68.7% to 11.2-million, of which 1.8-million represent active MoMo wallets.

MTN Nigeria’s digital revenue increased 68.4% as penetration of digital products continues to deepen, driven by user journey optimisation and increased use from its active base, which increased 66.4% to 9.6-million, led by instant messaging platform ayoba, with 5.1-million active users, up 75.5%.

“In addition, the number of smartphones on our network continues to increase, with the addition of about 4.4-million in the nine months, bringing smartphone penetration to 52%,” he continues, adding that, in terms of fixed broadband penetration, the company added over 430 000 users, bringing the user base to 1.1-million.

“Revenue from the enterprise business was up by 49.5%, underpinned by onboarding new customers across segments and the uptake of our enhanced services. We are actively pursuing our goal of accelerating the uptake of enterprise platforms, including the Internet of Things and cloud, creating additional value for our customers and enabling them to innovate while remaining profitable,” Toriola comments.

During the nine months to September 30, MTN Nigeria’s capital expenditure (capex) rose by 45.2% to N379-billion, mostly owing to accelerated coverage expansion focusing on the 4G and fifth-generation (5G) networks and its rural telephony programme.

The group deployed 8 230 4G sites and 218 5G sites, representing 84.4% of sites deployed during the period.

Core capex, excluding the right-of-use assets, increased by 51.3% to N251.8-billion, on track with MTN’s expected full-year capex of N340-billion.

“These investments enabled us to capture growth opportunities in the data, digital, and fintech space while mitigating foreign exchange and supply chain disruption risks and the impact of rising inflation. In doing so, we remain efficient with capital allocation, bringing capex intensity within target levels at 17.3%, while free cash flow was up by 7.5% to N401.6-billion,” Toriola concludes.