Ralph Mupita, MTN Group president and CEO.

MTN Group has released a trading statement for the year ended 31 December 2024, and despite claiming a ‘strong underlying performance’, shareholders have been warned that earnings will be significantly depressed.

The statement outlines that when the FY 24 financial results are released in mid 17 March 2025, the group is expecting to report a decline in earnings per share (EPS) from FY 2023, which exceeds 100%. It also forecasts a drop in headline earnings per share (HEPS) of between -79% and -59%.

MTN outlines that the financial results have been affected by several factors, which include currency devaluation against the US dollar, with the Nigerian naira being heavily affected. The conflict i Sudan also created operational challenges in FY 24, the group said.

MTN Group’s trading statement highlights that it is encouraged by the ‘relative stability of some important key macroeconomic indicators in the second half of FY 24 – such as inflation and foreign exchange rates in some of our key markets’.

The statement also reveals that the group expects to report an improvement in the trajectory of MTN South Africa’s profitability, particularly in the second half of FY 24.

In other large operations – notably Nigeria, Ghana and Uganda – MTN Group is also forecasting strong operational performances from second half FY 24, and beyond.

The group revealed that the approval of tariff increases by Nigerian regulators, in January 2025, was ‘a significant milestone in ensuring the long-term sustainability of our business and the telecoms industry in the country’. The telco has begun implementing tariff adjustments, although this has met with some displeasure among local consumers.

The Nigerian market is significant to the overall group, accounting for approximately 24% of overall service revenues. Indeed, in the full year results released by MTN Nigeria today, while reporting an increase in revenue from N2.47 trillion in 2023 to N3.36 trillion in 2024, the company loss after tax was N400.44 billion. This is attributed to rising finance costs, forex losses and increased operating expenses.

While trying to bring down its exposure to forex fluctuations, MTN Nigeria highlighted the renegotiation of terms of its existing infrastructure sharing and master lease agreements with HIS in August 2024, which reduced US dollar-indexed component of the leases and made the leases largely Naira-based.