•Mobile subscribers Rise To 61.6m, Active Data Users Now 22.3m
Telecommunications giant- MTN Nigeria Communications Plc, on Wednesday presented its unaudited financials for the nine-month ended September 30, 2019, indicating that it maintains the lead as the biggest revenue, just as it remains the most profitable company on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Another highlight of the numbers is that the percentage profit grew faster than revenue during the period.
While revenue for the period rose from N764.455bn in the corresponding period of 2018 to N856.476bn; other income rose to N72.491m from N69.771m.
A breakdown of the figure showed that Nigerians spent N40.433bn or 8.2% more on airtime and subscription, which rose to N533.758bn from the previous N493.324bn; and N162.256bn on data, an increase from N122.204bn. Amount spent on short message service (SMS) dropped slightly from N10.476bn in 2018, to N10.251bn; interconnect and roaming income climbed N16.957bn or 21.62% up from N78.411bn to N95.369bn. Handset and accessories rose jumped from N177.331m to N848.771m; digital income dropped to N26.387bn from N33.557bn; value-added services fetched N25.309bn from N22.585bn; just as other revenues (including SIM kits connection fees, ICT services, mobile financial services), added N2.295bn, compared to the previous N3.717bn
Direct network operating costs dropped from N227.3bn to N177.935bn, with base station leases costing N121.848bn, down from N172.167bn; network maintenance costs dropped marginally to N33.166bn from N34.365bn; just as regulatory fees accounted for N22.074bn from N19.895bn. Value-added services costs fell from N14.151bn to N8.938bn; the cost of handsets and other accessories climbed to N8.567bn from N5.012bn, and interconnect costs from N70.462bn to N78.602bn. Roaming costs dropped to N2.935bn from N3.391bn; transmission costs was flat at N4.126bn from N4.191bn; employee benefits increased to N23.057bn from N19.059bn, driven by N19.489bn n salaries and wages, from N16.149bn; just as discounts and commissions increased to N41.376bn from N37.756bn.
The group incurred N13.628bn on advertisements, sponsorships, and sales promotions, as against, up from N12.316bn; while other operating expenses dropped slightly to N37.278bn from N40.676bn. A breakdown showed that professional fees gulped N14.947bn, down from N19.985bn; followed by the N9.624bn maintenance cost, from N9.766bn in 2018; bad debts written off accounted for N9.367bn from N7.746bn; followed by the N9.051bn reversal of impairment losses on contract with customers, which dropped from N9.641bn. Depreciation of property, plant and equipment cost notched to N110.395bn from N104.737bn. The group spent N41.469bn on depreciation on right of use assets, from nil in the prior nine months; followed by the N21.986bn on amortization of intangible assets, up from N19.636bn. Operating profit, therefore, climbed 39.07% up to N286.25bn, compared to the N205.83bn reported in the prior nine-month
Finance income dropped marginally to N17.732bn from N18.426bn, the bulk of which was the N8.114bn from net gains on amortized cost investments, up from N7.221bn; followed by the N5.63bn interest income on bank deposits, a drop from N6.406bn. Finance costs soared by N38.75bn, or 72.82% to N91.977bn, from N53.221bn, driven primarily by the N51.22bn interest expenses on leases, as against nil in the previous nine months; followed by interest expenses on borrowings, which rose from N30.143bn to N32.403bn; among others.
Profit before tax stood at N212.006bn, 23.95% better than the N171.035bn reported earlier; income tax expense climbed from N56.001bn to N63.681bn; following which net profit climbed 28.94% up from N115.033bn to N148.323bn; representing earnings per share of N7.29; as against the prior nine months’ N5.65, which was restated to reflect changes in number of shares within the period.
A statement to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), by the company’s chief executive, Ferdi Moolman, explained that MTN Nigeria’s mobile subscribers rose by 0.1m to 61.6m in the period under review, while active data users climbed 1.6m to 22.3m. This was even after deregistering 0.6m active subscribers that limited base growth.
He described the performance as “very encouraging, demonstrating the resilience of our business despite a challenging operating environment.