Benson T
MTN Nigeria reported double-digit growth in revenue in the first quarter of 2020. Revenues for the company for the period ending March 31 rose 16.7 percent to N328.5 billion, compared to NGN 282.1 billion recorded in the first quarter of 2019.
The increased revenue was due to an uptick in revenue from voice and data. The company’s Ebitda (Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) also grew double digits year on year, posting 15.3 percent to N173.5 billion.
Profit before tax was 8.9 percent up, Q1 recording N76.3 billion. Net profit YoY went up 5.6 percent from NGN 48.44 billion in Q1 2019 to NGN 51.15 billion. Earnings per share (EPS) rose by 5.6 percent to reach NGN 0.025.
MTN posts solid performance in Nigeria
MTN Nigeria CEO Ferdi Moolman said that the company’s “solid performance in the first quarter,” built on the momentum set in Q4 of 2019.
The first three months of 2020 saw the firm record an upsurge in its mobile subscribers. The numbers grew 6.5 percent or 4.2-million to reach 68.5-million in the quarter.
Meanwhile, voice traffic also grew by 7.2 percent year-on-year. This growth resulted in the company’s revenue in the category to increase by 7.4 percent. Active data usage increased by 6.6 percent in the same period to hit a total of 26.8 million. At the same time, revenue from data increased by 59.2 percent.
MTN Nigeria’s fintech revenue also increased, with MTN Xtratime revenue up by 36.1 percent. Xtratime is the company’s airtime lending service. Revenue from the telco giant’s enterprise businesses grew by 12.7 percent during the quarter.
The division includes communication devices, cloud solutions, connectivity, and communications technology, among others.
MTN Nigeria recently pledged to support startups in the country in their efforts to provide solutions and services towards combating the spread of COVID-19.
