For the half year ended June 30, 2024, MTN Nigeria reported a 2.9% increase in total subscribers, reaching 79.4 million, despite a decline in the user base in Q1 2024.
The telco’s fintech business saw 11% revenue growth primarily due to its airtime lending product Xtratime, the telco said, as the adoption of its mobile money services, MoMo, increased. Active MoMo PSB wallets grew by 73.9% to 5.5 million.
Additionally, service revenue increased by 32.6% to ₦1.5 trillion. However, despite this surge, the telco suffered net forex losses of ₦887.7 billion. This led to a loss after tax of ₦519.1 billion, a significant jump from ₦85.6 billion in H1 2023.
MTN reported it removed 8.6 million subscribers in H1 2024 to comply with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) directive. Despite this, the company managed to slow the decline in its user base, which had been impacted by the NCC’s NIN-SIM directive, as noted in Q1 2024.
MTN Nigeria CEO Karl Toriola stated that MoMo, the fintech business’s active wallet growth came as it began to recover from the impact of NIN requirements for KYC verification which affected approximately a million active wallets in Q1 2024. In April 2024, MTN MoMo added 25 new wallet corridors and expanded its services to 10 more countries. In H1, transactions within its fintech ecosystem grew by 33.4%.
Recently, it barred the remaining subscribers with less than five lines linked to unverified NIN in compliance with the July 31, 2024 deadline. However, it has reversed this per the regulator’s directive to reactivate the lines and give users more time to complete the verification process.
On July 30, 2024, MTN closed all its offices and customer service centres across Nigeria after customers’ outrage over their disconnected lines. In Lagos, customers reportedly tore down the fence of an MTN office and stormed the area in protest; however, the Lagos State Police stepped in to restore order.
Further, per the H1 report, the CEO stated that the telco is expanding its capacity to meet increasing demand, including constructing a tier 4 data centre with seven degrees of transmission connectivity.
In Nigeria, MTN revealed that it has committed more than $1 billion to support initiatives that align with national priorities and enrich lives. It also said it has made progress in outlined initiatives to improve its capital position, which includes regulated tariff increases and reducing USD exposure.
The telco is confident that the ongoing renegotiation of IHS Towers, if successful, will support its recovery.
+ There are no comments
Add yours