MTN’s N4.1bn Q3 profit drowned by negative nine-month results

MTN Nigeria has reported a profit after tax of N4.1bn for the third quarter ended September 2024, marking a slight improvement amid ongoing financial challenges.

However, despite this profit in Q3, the overall financial results for the nine-month period (three quarters) revealed a significant loss after tax of N514.9bn, primarily driven by substantial foreign exchange losses.

According to its financial report released on Wednesday, Nigeria’s largest telecom operator also disclosed an adjusted profit after tax of N118.5bn, reflecting a 59.2 per cent decrease compared to the previous year.

This adjusted figure indicates that, without the forex losses, the company would have reported a profit during this period.
The operator, with 77 million subscribers, explained that higher inflation and interest rates have weighed on consumers’ spending power, impacting business activity. Nevertheless, the company expressed optimism about enhancing operational efficiency and driving growth in its commercial operations.

The telco stated that the naira closed at N1,542/$ in September 2024, compared to N907/$ in December 2023, further exerting pressure on business activities.
However, MTN noted that improvements in liquidity in the foreign exchange market have helped reduce the company’s exposure to foreign currency-denominated obligations.
The Chief Executive Officer of MTN Nigeria, Karl Toriola, stated, “In the first nine months of 2024, we sustained the growth in our underlying operating performance—underpinned by our resilient business model and operational agility—despite challenging conditions.”

Further, the report showed a decrease in total subscribers by 0.9 per cent, bringing the subscriber base to 77 million from 78 million due to the implementation of National Identification Number and Subscriber Identification Module regulations.

Additionally, the number of active mobile money (MoMo PSB) wallets fell by 21.8 per cent to 2.8 million, further impacting revenue streams.

Despite these challenges, MTN experienced a 33.6 per cent increase in service revenue, reaching N2.4tr, showcasing the resilience of its core business operations.

The number of active data users also rose by 5.1 per cent, totaling 45.3 million, highlighting continued demand for data services.