MTNN grows Q1 profit by 5.6% to N51.15bn as revenue rises by 16.7%

The earnings of MTN Nigeria Communications Plc increased by 5.6 per cent to N51.146 billion at the end of  first quarter 2020 compared to the same period of 2019 even as its revenue recorded a growth of 16.7 per cent.

This is contained in full details of the telecom’s financial performance in the period under review as contained in its Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Interim Financial Statements, posted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) website on Wednesday.

MTNN’s revenue advanced from N282.117 billion at Q1 2019 to N329.171 billion in the corresponding period this year, translating to 16.7 per cent growth

Its Profit Before Tax climbed up 8.9 per cent, moving from N70.096 billion to N79.308 billion even as the Profit for the period inched up from N48.441 billion to N51.146 billion, representing a 5.6 per cent increase.

MTNN revealed that its mobile subscribers increased by 4.2 million to 68.5 million while active data subscribers rose by 1.7 million to 26.8 million during the period.

“We continued to deepen data penetration with the further rollout of 4G sites, increasing 4G population coverage to 48% in Q1 2020 from 44% as at year-end 2019.

“We saw strong growth in digital and fintech revenue with digital revenue growing by 63.7%, while fintech was up by 36.1%. Our mobile money network has grown to 178,000, adding 70,000 agents during the quarter,” said Ferdi Moolman, MTNN Chief Executive Officer.

Its Earnings Per Share (EPS) went up by 5.6 per cent from N2.38 at Q1 2019 to N2.51.

Total Equity received a 35.3 per cent boost from N144.686 billion to N195.700 billion.

With outstanding shares numbering about 20.355 billion, MTNN’s dividend yield is 4.671 per cent. Its Price to Earnings (PE) ratio is 10.56 while its EPS is N9.93.

Its Return on Equity stands  at 16.38 while Return on Investment at 27.15.

MTTN opened trade on the floor of the NSE on Wednesday at N104.9 per share.

MTN Group Limited, Africa’s biggest wireless operator and the parent company of MTNN, said at the beginning of April it would not back down from its ambition to sell 15% of its 79% stake in its MTNN, having run into several conflicts with authorities in Nigeria, its biggest market.