, 2023 after-tax Profit of N101.3bn as its subscriber base rose 9.4 percent){kind=link}
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MTN Nigeria communications Plc has reported first quarter (Q1), 2023 after-tax Profit of N101.3bn as its subscriber base rose 9.4 percent to 76.7 million, the highest level since it commenced operations in 2001.
Analysis of the financials shows the company continues to record consistent earnings growth amid a challenging operating environment.
The largest telecommunication firm in Africa’s most populous nation which is taking advantage of a fast growing young population to magnify its share of the market has built a financial war chest that makes it easier to fund expansion plans and make it impervious to macroeconomic headwinds.
A cursory look at the first quarter (Q1) 2023 results shows earnings before interest taxation depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 17.70 percent to N302.56 billion from N257.14 billion as at March 2022.
Total revenue was up 20.60 percent to N568.13 billion in the period under review from N470.98 billion the previous year.
A breakdown of the top line figures (sales) shows data was up +40 percent to N227.84 billion, and Voice, +7.30 percent to N277.61 billion.
The company said the growth in data revenue was enabled by its sustained investment in its networks to drive 4G and 5G coverage and enhance the quality and capacity of the network to support the rising data traffic.
“As a result, our 4G network now covers 79.3% of the population, up from 79.1% in December 2022, and data usage (GB per user) grew by 31.3% to 7.8GB. In addition, we added over 804k new smartphones to our network in Q1, bringing smartphone penetration to 52.7%,” said MTN Nigeria CEO, Karl Toriola.
MTN Nigeria is not resting on its oars as it continued to advance its home broadband penetration by adding 169k users in the first quarter Q1, bringing its user base to 1.4 million; this was supported by deploying its 5G fixed wireless access devices, mobile broadband solutions and fibre-to-the-home connectivity.
“The first quarter of the year remained challenging due to the rising food and energy inflation, supply chain challenges, and local currency and foreign exchange availability. However, as the rest of the year unfolds, we will continue to invest to support the resilience and growth of our business, taking advantage of opportunities embedded within our connectivity and platform businesses such as fintech,” Toriola summed.