MTN Group added 13 million new customers in the first half of 2025, pushing its base to nearly 298 million across its markets on the back of a 4.7% subscriber increase.
Reporting a robust turnaround in its half-year results to 30 June 2025, powered by surging subscriber usage, Africa’s largest telco attributed the growth to strong demand in Nigeria and Ghana, and sharp growth in data and fintech services.
The group’s data business was a major driver, as active data subscribers jumped 10.3% to 164.4 million, fueling a 29.1% increase in traffic to 11.7 petabytes.
Average monthly usage per customer climbed 17.1% to 12.4GB, reflecting growing demand for digital services. Smartphone adoption also deepened, with penetration reaching 65.2% and 193 million devices now active on MTN’s networks.
The company’s Mobile Money (MoMo) platform also delivered strong growth. Monthly active users edged up 1.8% to 63.2 million, while transaction volumes rose 14.5% to 11.1 billion.
Transaction values surged 45.4% to US$212.2 billion, underscoring MoMo’s expanding role in Africa’s digital financial ecosystem.
Notably, advanced services such as payments and lending grew revenue by 42%, lifting their contribution to 33.4% of MoMo revenues, a gain of nearly four percentage points from last year.
On the financial side, MTN delivered a 23.2% increase in group service revenue to $6 billion (R105.1bn), while total revenue reached $6,2 billion (R109.3bn). Data revenue rose 36.5% and fintech revenue expanded 37.3%.
Headline earnings per share (HEPS) recovered to 645 cents, from a loss of 256 cents in the prior year, while operating free cash flow more than doubled to $1,2 billion (R20.5bn).
MTN Group President and CEO Ralph Mupita led the celebration of the return to profitability. “The Group reported a pleasing set of results, driven by strong commercial execution, disciplined capital allocation and improved macroeconomic conditions. We are encouraged by the acceleration in our topline and recovery in our profitability and free cash flow generation,” he said.
Nigeria and Ghana were standout performers. Service revenue in Nigeria surged 54.1% in constant currency, boosted by a 68.5% leap in data sales and a 71.2% rise in fintech revenues.
Profit after tax rebounded to $279 million (R4.9bn) from a loss of $465 million (R8.2bn) a year earlier. Ghana recorded 39.9% service revenue growth, underpinned by a 50.2% rise in data revenue and 43.3% in fintech.
Looking ahead, Mupita underlined that MTN upgraded its medium-term guidance to at least high-teens revenue growth, when he cited Nigeria’s stronger economic outlook and continued demand for digital and fintech services across Africa.
“These results underline the strength of our portfolio and our commitment to accelerate growth while unlocking value for our shareholders and broader stakeholders,” he stated.
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