The positive macroeconomic and regulatory environment—characterised by improved forex availability, relative stability of the currency, and supporting policy reforms—boosted MTN Nigeria's performance in the half-year ended June 30.
The positive environment include new tax legislation that goes into effect in January 2026, which MTN Nigeria said yesterday give a stable basis for operational execution and long-term investment.
Nigeria accounts for a great deal of MTN Group revenue from the 16 markets in which it operates, and it has 297 million customers across Africa, making it the continent's largest telecom operator.
In the period under review, MTN’s total subscribers increased by 6.7% to 84.7 million, active data users increased by 11.8% to 51.0 million, service revenue increased by 54.6% to N2.4 trillion, EBITDA increased by 119.5% to N1.2 trillion and EBITDA margin increased by 15.0 percentage points to 50.6%.
MTN reported profit after tax of N414.9 billion (H1 2024: negative N519.1 billion), earnings per share of N19.8 kobo (H1 2024: negative N24.7 kobo) and capex, excluding leases, increased by 288.4% to N565.7 billion as the telco accelerated investments in first half of the year.
Karl Toriola, MTN Nigeria CEO, commented on the company's performance by saying: “We are excited by the progress made in the first half of 2025, reflecting the successful execution of the strategic priorities we previously communicated to the market.
“Building on the momentum from the first quarter, we delivered strong growth in service revenue for the period under review.
“This was driven by robust demand for our services, proactive customer value management and price adjustments, mainly in Q2.
“In reinforcing this growth, we accelerated investment in our network to enhance capacity, coverage and quality of experience.”
He continued: “The macroeconomic conditions in Nigeria showed notable improvements in the period under review, including a relatively stable naira, improved foreign exchange liquidity and easing inflationary pressures.
“The Central Bank of Nigeria maintained the Monetary Policy Rate at 27.5% to anchor inflation expectations, contributing to a moderation in the headline inflation to 22.2% in June 2025.
“The naira held steady, closing the period at N1,530/US$ (December 2024: N1,535/US$). This backdrop helped to enable our improved business performance and set a more supportive context for increased long-term investments.”
Additionally, he said: “We achieved robust and broad-based revenue growth across voice, data, digital, and fintech segments. Service revenue increased by 54.6% YoY, supported by strong demand and the full effect of the price adjustments.
“Cost pressures were mitigated through the revised IHS tower lease agreement, relative naira stability and sustained progress in our underlying expense efficiency initiatives.”
Looking into the future, Toriola commented: “We anticipate sustained momentum in service revenue, supported by sustained usage and user base growth as we drive new propositions and focus on market expansion initiatives.
“Our commercial strategy remains focused on driving deeper engagement, enhancing customer experience and expanding access across key market segments. We continue to invest in home broadband, particularly through fibre-to-the-home deployment, to capture rising demand for high-speed and reliable connectivity.
“This is complemented by ongoing investments in network capacity and coverage to support sustained growth across consumer and enterprise segments.”
He added: “In fintech, we will continue to drive the recovery of the business, with a focus on growing wallets and transaction volumes, as well as expanding advanced services.
“We are investing in the development of new payment use cases aimed at enhancing wallet stickiness and driving recurring usage. We remain committed to unlocking the long-term growth potential of our fintech business and continuing the work to deepen financial inclusion, particularly in underserved communities.”
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