Telecommunications firm, MTN Nigeria has claimed a strong quarterly result for the period ended March 31, 2018.
MTN said while subscriptions to its network grew by 4.3 percent quarter on quarter (QoQ) basis to 54.5 million, its constant currency (organic) service revenue increased by 14.4 percent and data revenue increased 73.2 percent year-on-year (YoY) and 15.2 percent growth in voice revenue.
According to the Guardian, The telecommunications firm, which currently controls 36.4 per cent of Nigeria’s telecoms market, noted that in the first quarter of 2018, its Earnings before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) margin expanded to 41.8 per cent given well-controlled expenses and a stable naira.
Commenting on the results, Chief Executive Officer, MTN Nigeria, Ferdi Moolman, said: “MTN Nigeria delivered a strong performance for the first quarter of 2018, supported by growth in data revenue and increased scale. We also maintained positive momentum in growing our subscriber base and maintaining our network leadership position.”
MTN Nigeria reported net additions in the quarter of 2.3 million following on from the 2.0 million net additions in Q4 2017, which was supported by the increase in the SIM registration footprint. During the period the business rolled out 298 3G and 174 4G sites with the 4G rollout remaining centred on the top 10 cities across the country.
While the full financial results for MTN Nigeria will be released on May 7, the group reported a 9.1 percent rise in its revenue for the quarter to the end of March, sending its shares five percent higher.
The group’s revenue increased due to growth in Nigeria and Ghana, where voice revenue expanded.
MTN said its subscribers increased by 1.9 percent quarter-on-quarter with net additions of 4.1 million, while the group’s data revenue was up by 26.9 percent.
The group’s share price rose as much as 5.74 percent and later traded up 3.94 percent at 131 rand by 0813 GMT on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
MTN Group President and CEO, Rob Shuter said: “During the quarter, the group continued to focus on operational execution across our markets, leveraging off the strong network investment of the past few years. This allowed us to deliver an acceleration in service revenue growth to 9.1 percent (constant currency), led by MTN Nigeria and MTN Ghana.
The South African telecommunications firm disclosed that it has made good progress on Nigeria and Ghana’s Initial Public Offering (IPO) processes, “which we aim to conclude during 2018. To this end, we will be releasing full financial results for MTN Nigeria on May 7, 2018. ‘’
