MTN Nigeria subscribers decline by 7.6 million in 2021 first half

MTN Nigeria Communications Plc on Friday released its unaudited results for the half-year ended 30 June 2021, showing that the mobile subscriber base plummeted by 7.6 million to 68.9 million due to what the company described as regulatory restrictions on new SIM sales and activations.

Similarly, active data users declined by approximately 52,000 to 32.5 million in the first half.

Regardless of these setbacks, the company’s profit before tax jumped by 54.01 per cent to N215.12 billion during the period under review, compared to the corresponding period of 2020, according to the filing with the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX).

The company’s total revenue increased by 24.01 per cent to N791.26 billion in H1 2021, as against N638.08 billion in the same period of 2020, while data subscription (48.29 per cent), digital sales (61.81 per cent), enterprise turnover (35.62 per cent), and fintech business (48.21 per cent) revenues.

Its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation rose by 27.56 per cent to N417.21 per cent, with EBITDA margin put at 52.73 per cent.

Also, the company’s cash flow improved by 19.60 per cent to N230.77bn from N192.99bn in H1 2020.

The board of directors had approved an interim dividend of N4.55 kobo per share to be paid out of distributable net income. This represents a growth of 30 per cent over N3.50 kobo per share paid in H1 2020.

Commenting on the results, MTN Nigeria CEO, Karl Toriola said: “In the first half of 2021, we made good progress strengthening the resilience of the business, managing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and enhancing support to our people, customers and other stakeholders.

He said: “We extended our commitment to the Coalition Against Covid-19 (CACOVID) with an additional N3 billion contribution over a two-year period, half of which has already been paid. This is in support of efforts to promote the health and security of Nigerians, as we navigate our way through the pandemic; and in line with our Y’ello Hope initiatives through which we provided support to our broad base of stakeholders to the value of approximately N25 billion in 2020.

“Our progress towards achieving greater business resilience is reflected in the upgrade by Global Credit Ratings (GCR) of our national scale long-term issuer rating to AAA and affirmation of our national scale short-term rating of A1+ with a stable outlook. This puts MTN Nigeria on the highest possible GCR scale for short-term and long-term ratings, providing a solid platform for growth.

“2021 marks the 20th anniversary of MTN’s presence in Nigeria. As we celebrate this milestone, we are pleased to announce that our Board of Directors has approved our participation in the Road Infrastructure Tax Credit (RITC) Scheme. This is in response to Government’s drive towards public-private partnerships in the rehabilitation of critical road infrastructure in Nigeria. We intend to participate in the restoration and refurbishment of the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway. Conversations in this regard have already commenced, and further announcements will be made in due course.”

“In the first half of 2021, we made good progress strengthening the resilience of the business, managing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and enhancing support to our people, customers and other stakeholders”.