MTN Nigeria Communications Plc has successfully navigated a path back to profitability after experiencing three consecutive quarters of losses. In its third quarter of 2024, the telecommunications giant reported a profit after tax of N4.13 billion, signaling a turnaround in its financial performance.
Despite this positive quarter, MTN Nigeria faced significant challenges over the nine months ending September 2024, recording a total revenue of N514.93 billion. This figure reflects a minor decline of 0.80 percent from the N519.1 billion reported for the first half of the year, highlighting the ongoing difficulties in the telecommunications sector. High inflation rates and the devaluation of the naira have severely impacted operational expenses, putting pressure on businesses across Nigeria.
Karl Toriola, CEO of MTN Nigeria, commented on the company’s resilience: “In the first nine months of 2024, we sustained growth in our underlying operating performance—underpinned by our resilient business model and operational agility—despite challenging conditions.” He noted that if not for the net foreign exchange loss, the profit after tax would have surged to N118.5 billion for the nine-month period.
The economic landscape has been particularly tumultuous, with a recent unification of the foreign exchange market by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) resulting in the naira plummeting from N471 per dollar to above N1,500. This drastic depreciation has led to substantial forex losses across the telecommunications sector, with MTN and Airtel Africa collectively losing N1.29 trillion in 2023.
In the face of these challenges, MTN Nigeria has seen a robust growth in service revenue, which rose by 33.6 percent to N2.4 trillion, largely driven by a surge in data revenues totaling N1.14 trillion. Toriola emphasized the company’s strong commercial momentum: “We recorded an increase in service revenue of 33.6 percent, which was ahead of the average inflation rate in the period. This growth was led by data and supported by voice, fintech, and digital services.”
Despite a slight decrease in its overall subscriber base—down 0.9 percent to 77 million, attributed to the NIN-SIM regulations—MTN reported a 5.1 percent increase in active data users, reaching 45.3 million. Voice traffic rose by 9.8 percent, while data traffic experienced a significant jump of 42.1 percent. Additionally, the average data usage per user grew by 31.2 percent, now standing at 11.3 GB, reflecting an increasing demand for digital services.
However, MTN cautioned that higher inflation and interest rates are continuing to affect consumer spending power and business activities, underscoring the ongoing economic pressures faced by both the company and its customers.