MTN Nigeria Communications Plc (NGX: MTNN) has delivered a blockbuster Q1 2026 performance, reporting a 165.9% surge in Profit After Tax (PAT) to ₦355.5 billion.
Despite the “industry-wide pause” on airtime lending recently mandated by the FCCPC, the telco giant leveraged a massive 41.8% jump in service revenue and a significantly improved foreign exchange environment to deliver record earnings.
CEO Karl Toriola attributed the result to “disciplined cost management” and a strategic acceleration of network investment, which allowed the firm to capture a growing appetite for high-speed data.
Q1 2026 Scorecard: Efficiency at Scale
The standout feature of this quarter was the massive expansion of margins, as the company translated top-line growth into bottom-line “Alpha.”
| Financial Metric | Q1 2025 | Q1 2026 | Change |
| Service Revenue | ~₦1.06 Trillion | ₦1.50 Trillion | +41.8% |
| EBITDA | ₦492.7 Billion | ₦828.3 Billion | +68.1% |
| EBITDA Margin | 46.6% | 55.3% | +8.7 pp |
| Profit After Tax (PAT) | ₦133.7 Billion | ₦355.5 Billion | +165.9% |
| Earnings Per Share | ₦6.37 | ₦16.95 | +166.1% |
Source: MoneyCentral, MTN Nigeria
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Data Dominance: Active data users grew by 9.5% to 55 million, driving a 22.9% increase in data traffic. Data is now the primary engine of service revenue, though the voice market still grew service revenue by 22.5%.
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The FX Buffer: Unlike the 2024-2025 period of severe currency distress, a “stronger Naira” (₦1,387/$ vs ₦1,436/$ in Dec 2025) provided a supportive backdrop for capital equipment imports and reduced the impact of dollar-denominated liabilities.
Strategic Capex: The ₦390 Billion Bet
MTN accelerated its investment in infrastructure, nearly doubling its capital expenditure (Capex) to ensure network quality remains peer-leading.
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Capacity Expansion: Capex (excluding leases) hit ₦390.3 billion, a 92.8% increase. This investment is targeted at 5G rollout and 4G densification to support the 1.8 million new data users added in just three months.
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Free Cash Flow (FCF): Despite the aggressive spending, cash generation remained “robust” at ₦326.5 billion (+55.6%), providing the liquidity needed to fund future spectrum acquisitions or dividend payouts.
Cost-Containment
In an environment where fuel and maintenance costs are soaring, MTN managed to expand its EBITDA margin by 8.7 percentage points.
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Operating Leverage: Toriola noted that operational discipline kept operating expenses (Opex) “well contained.” This suggests a successful transition to renewable energy for base stations and a leaner digital-first distribution model.
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Normalization Trend: Management expects revenue growth to “normalise” from Q2 2026 onwards as the base effect of the 2025 price adjustments becomes fully annualized.
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