MTN Nigeria Communications Plc reported a 70.6% year-on-year surge in net profit for the first half of 2026, driven by sustained mobile data demand, operational cost control, and a strengthening naira that erased foreign exchange losses.
Service revenue expanded 25.9% year-on-year to ₦3.0 trillion, outpacing the company’s medium-term growth target. The performance was spearheaded by a 38.4% jump in data revenue, as active data users rose to 55.7 million and average monthly data consumption reached 14.8GB per subscriber.
Profit after tax reached ₦707.5 billion ($512.7 million), up from the prior-year period, allowing the board to declare an interim dividend of ₦26 per share payable in September 2026.
Total revenues rose by 25.9% Year-on-Year to ₦2.993 trillion in H1,2026, from ₦2.377 trillion.
Karl Toriola, Chief Executive Officer, said:
“We delivered a strong first-half performance, with sustained commercial momentum, improved profitability and robust cash generation. This reflects the resilience of demand for our services, disciplined execution across the business and continued focus on efficiency in a challenging operating environment.”
FX Deleveraging and Balance Sheet Strength
A key driver of bottom-line expansion was the total elimination of foreign currency debt. MTN Nigeria fully extinguished its remaining $105 million outstanding foreign currency loans during the period, insulating its balance sheet from foreign exchange volatility.
Supported by a stronger naira—which closed the period at ₦1,380/$ compared to ₦1,530/$ in H1 2025—the company recorded a net FX gain of ₦36.4 billion, reversing a net FX loss of ₦5.2 billion in the prior-year period. Net finance costs fell 20.4% as total borrowings declined, leaving the company in a net cash position of ₦116.3 billion.
Reflecting the de-risked balance sheet, credit rating agency Agusto & Co. upgraded MTN Nigeria’s long-term issuer rating to ‘Aaa’, joining GCR’s existing ‘AAA’ rating.
Data and Fintech Performance
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Data Segment: Data traffic expanded 25.8% year-on-year, cementing its role as the primary revenue engine as smartphone penetration reached 66.4%. Home broadband deployment via Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) and 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) continued to scale.
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Fintech Segment: Fintech revenue contracted 7.2% following a temporary operational suspension of the company’s airtime and data credit lending service during Q2. However, core MoMo PSB mobile money revenue jumped roughly 132.0%, with active wallets expanding to 5.0 million. The company confirmed that airtime credit services have resumed, and structural separation of the fintech unit remains underway subject to regulatory approvals.
Operating expenses (opex) grew 11.3%, well below revenue expansion, driving a 5.3 percentage point EBITDA margin expansion to 55.9%. Free cash flow rose 73.9% to ₦712.7 billion, while capex intensity moderated to 20.7%.
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