MTN Nigeria records N975.8bn revenue for Q3 2020

MTN Nigeria has recorded a 13.9 per cent increase in its revenue for the third quarter of 2020, posting N975.76 billion.

This record is higher than the N856.549bn what the telco recorded in the same period last year.

The financial performance submitted to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) also indicates that operating profit increased by 7.8 per cent from N284.7bn in Q3 2019 to N307.0bn.

The growth in operating profit was largely impacted by the increase in finance costs as a result of increased borrowings (September 2019: N381bn, September 2020: N509bn), leading to a decline of 0.6 per cent in profit before tax to N211.6bn.

The key metrics, which impacted the Q3 2020 figures posted by the firm, includes Mobile subscribers increased by 3.9 million to 75m.

Active data users increased by 1.7m to 30.7m.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) grew by 9.1percent to N497.9bn.

Profit before Tax (PBT) declined by 0.6 per cent to N211.6bn while Earnings per Share (EPS) declined by 3.3 per cent to N7.1 kobo

Notably, smartphone penetration grew to 45.2 per cent, from 43.5 per cent in Q2, and 41.7 per cent in Q3-19, while 4G population coverage grew to 52.9 per cent, up from 48.6 per cent in Q2 and 35.4 per cent in Q3-19.

CEO, MTN, Ferdi Moolman, said, “Following a decline in voice traffic and an acceleration in data during lockdowns in Q2, we have seen a normalisation of traffic as restrictions have been removed, with a recovery voice traffic and continued growth in data. This has supported a 13.9 per cent growth in service revenue, with an acceleration of growth to 16.5 per cent in Q3 specifically.”

Cordros Research, a financial services outfit commented: “The start of the company’s PSB operations remains the key catalyst as mobile money in Nigeria presents a compelling growth/return opportunity for MTNN.

“We look for the company to provide an update on the Nigerian PSB licence on the conference call.”