MTN Nigeria recorded a loss after tax of N514.9 billion between January and September 2024.
The loss, primarily attributed to naira depreciation, which increased foreign currency-denominated obligations, was contained in the company’s unaudited results for the nine months ended 30 September 2024 and released on Thursday.
The report showed that the loss represents a 3,335 per cent increase when compared with the N15.0 billion loss recorded in the same period of 2023.
Following the loss, MTN’s retained earnings and shareholders’ equity turned negative, amounting to N723.0 billion and N573.6 billion, respectively, as of September 2024.
MTN Nigeria CEO Karl Toriola said but for the forex revaluation losses, the company’s profit after tax (PAT) would have been N118.5 billion, down 59.2% year-on-year.
Adjusting further for forex impact on operating expenses, PAT would have risen 13.3% to N367.1 billion.
Meanwhile, during the period, MTN Nigeria’s total subscriber base saw a slight decline of 0.9 per cent to 77.0 million, primarily influenced by compliance with NIN-SIM regulations.
In contrast, active data users increased by 5.1 per cent to 45.3 million, while active mobile money (MoMo) wallets declined by 21.8 per cent to 2.8 million.
The firm also reported a robust increase in service revenue, up 33.6 per cent to N2.4 trillion, demonstrating continued demand for its core services despite the challenging macroeconomic environment.
The company’s recent renegotiation of its tower lease contracts with IHS Towers yielded savings in operating expenses, which positively impacted its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) margin by 2.3 percentage points.
However, EBITDA declined by 5.3 per cent year-on-year to N860.2 billion, with the EBITDA margin decreasing by 14.9 percentage points to 36.3 per cent .
Toriola, said despite forex challenges, MTN Nigeria’s positive free cash flow, supported by favourable working capital movements and reduced capital expenditure, underscores its resilience in navigating the current economic landscape.
“As we manage the effects of the ongoing macroeconomic headwinds on our business, we remain focused on initiatives to accelerate our earnings recovery profile, strengthen our balance sheet, and restore our net asset position faster,” he said.
He pointed out that MTN has continued to manage the effects of the Nigerian Communications Commission’s (NCC) industry-wide NIN-SIM directive, which has impacted the evolution of its customer base.
