According to the unaudited financial statement of the company issued on Thursday, Telco giant MTN Nigeria Communications Plc (MTNN) recorded N1.2trn revenue from January to September as a result of Nigerians’ fast-increasing demand for data.
This therefore makes MTNN the first ever public company in Nigeria to record a revenue that high for a nine-month period putting it on track to surpass this year its full-year sales figure for 2020 when it reported N1.3 trillion.
The Nigerian unit of Africa’s biggest telecommunications firm, Johannesburg-based MTN Group, noted in a separate statement that active data users expanded by 2.5 million to 33.2 million within January to September.
A major downside of its performance was a slump in its mobile subscriber’s figure, which fell by 7.5 million to 67.5 million. The telco cited regulatory bottlenecks on new SIM activations and sales as the trigger.
Pre-tax profit increased more than half to N321.4 billion, profit for the period stood at N220.312 billion, 52.7% stronger than what was reported for the same period of 2020.
The stock gained 0.92% in Lagos on Thursday, rising to N175.60 per share following the news.
CEO of MTN Nigeria, Karl Toriola said, “Our focus on deepening our partnerships has resulted in signing a five-year strategic partnership with the Nigerian Football Federation to become the official communications partner.”
“We are excited about the potential to combine the power of our network and technology solutions with the passion that Nigerians have for football.”
The wireless operator increased its capital expenditure spending by more than a third to N261.1 billion, saying in August it planned to commit as much as $1.5 billion to broadband expansion in the next three years.
Also, MTN Group hopes to sell a portion of its 79% stake in its Nigerian operation to local investors in the country, which contributes about one-third of its revenue.
