MTN, Nigeria’s largest telecommunications company, has posted a revenue of N1.2 trillion in the first nine months of 2021 compared to N975.7 billion recorded in the same period last year on expansion of 4G coverage and increase in infrastructural capacity.
“We front loaded our capital infrastructures and we saw an increase in our 4G coverage. We are also very active with our sales and distribution structure,” MTN Nigeria chief executive Karl Toriola said on a call with investors.
“We were able to expand our network infrastructure and give our subscribers access to a better quality of service,” Toriola said.
The company announced in the first half of the year that the company has reached 80.4 percent coverage of its 3G population, while 60.1 percent of its target population now has access to its 4G network across the country.
MTN’s average megabyte per user rose 58.2 percent while smartphone penetration on the network grew by 3.5pp to 48.7 percent.
During the call, the company further revealed that its 4G network coverage has surged to 69 percent in the third quarter of 2021.
The telco giant’s finance cost also plunged 2 percent to N104 billion in the 9-month period compared to N107 billion the year.
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“We saw a decrease in our finance cost as we benefited from the low interest rate environment and other cost efficiency programs,” Modupe Kadri, the Chief Financial Officer of MTN Nigeria said.
MTN Nigeria is set to launch Series 2 Bonds valued at N90 billion but awaits regulatory approval from the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC).
The company issued the first Series in May 2021, issuance of N110 billion, 7-Year 13.0 percent Fixed Rate Bonds due 2028.
On the shutdown of their operations in some northern states, MTN says its impact will not be grave in revenue.
“About 30 percent of our revenue comes from the north, the impact of the shut down is small compared to our overall revenue,” Toriola said. He also refused to disclose the number of affected states and areas for security purposes.
The Federal Government approved the extension of the deadline for National Identity Number (NIN)-Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) data verification to October 31, 2021, after which defaulting subscribers will be cut off. The company explained that it would comply if the deadline is affected.
“We have seen repeated extensions of deadlines and we hope they extend it to allow more people to register but if the deadline is effected, we will comply,” the CEO said.
MTN mobile subscriber base dropped to 67.5 million from 75 million in the same period last year. The drop the company noted is due to SIM Card registration policy of the government which it noted hampered growth across the sector.
On the outlook for the rest of the year, the CEO explained that the company is focusing on 5G network coverage and also increasing its reach in the rural communities while maintaining its strong growth.
