MTN Nigeria earns N1.654trn in full year 2021

MTN Nigeria Communication Plc (MTNN) has released its full results for the year ended December 31, 2021.

Its revenue came in higher by 22.9 percent to N1.654trillion from a low of N1.346trillion in 2020.

The Telco’s scorecard released to investors at the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) show its service revenue was up by 23.3percent to N1.651trillion from N1.339trillion in 2020.

Voice revenue grew by 8.4percent to N971.4billion from N896billion in 2020, while Data revenue was up 55.3percent to N516.1billion from N332.4billion in 2020.

Digital revenue went up by 61.2 percent to N18billion from N11.2billion in 2020.
Fintech revenue grew by 57.3percent to N70.6billion from N44.8billion in 2020.

Service revenue relates to voice, data, digital, fintech and SMS included in other revenue. Data revenue includes fixed data. Digital revenue consists of revenue generated from rich media services, content VAS and mobile
advertising. Other revenue consists of revenue from SMS, ICT and Infrastructure, devices, leased line and non-service revenue.

The results show profit after tax (PAT) rose by
45.5percent to N298.7 billion from N205.2billion in 2020, while earnings per share increased by 35.8percent to N14.7 from N10.8 in 2020.

MTN Nigeria Communications Plc is part of the MTN Group, an emerging market communication services provider at the forefront of technological and digital innovation with a presence in 19 countries in Africa and the Middle East.

Read also: How MTN’s MoMo overtook Safaricom’s M-Pesa in five numbers

If approved by members at the Annual General Meeting, dividend amounting to N174.438billion
will be paid on Thursday, April 28, 2022 at the rate of N8.57 per every 2 Kobo ordinary share (subject to appropriate deduction of withholding tax); to shareholders whose names appear in the Company’s Register of Members at the close of business on Wednesday April 6, 2022 (bringing the total dividend for the year ended December 31, 2021 to N13.12.

“I am pleased to report that your Company recorded improved performance across all key financial metrics in 2021, demonstrating the
strength and resilience of our business,” said Ernest Ndukwe, Chairman, MTN Nigeria.

“Enhancing the shared value that we deliver across our ecosystem is a critical pillar of Ambition 2025 and sits at the heart of our approach to doing business,” said Karl Toriola, Chief Executive Officer, MTN Nigeria.

‘I am truly excited about what the future holds and the role that our Company can play in helping to achieve it,” he added.

The CEO noted further that, “We are focused on building on the platform of success laid in 2021. Our return to positive subscriber net additions in Q4 2021 establishes a solid basis for growth in 2022 as we boost gross connections through our rural connectivity drive and customer value management initiatives. We are seeing structurally sustained data growth.

“As a result, we continue to invest in network and information technology infrastructure and have secured the relevant frequencies to meet the higher demand. This involves accelerating the expansion of our 4G coverage and providing home broadband to capture a significant share of market growth. We will commence the initial rollout of 5G services once the license acquisition process is complete to further deepen broadband penetration in Nigeria, enhance customer experience and unlock new revenue streams.

“We have made significant progress with our super-agent licence, expanding the agent network across the country. However, as the business transits to MoMo PSB once the final approval is obtained, we remain focused on developing the range of additional services we can offer customers to drive digital and financial inclusion”.

“We will sustain our drive for cost management across the business through our expense efficiency programme and strengthen our operations and financial position. Although the availability of foreign exchange remains a constraint, we will strive to minimise its impact on the business. In line with the accelerated growth we are seeing, we expect service revenue growth of “at least 20percent” over the medium term. We will continue to focus on CAPEX efficiencies in delivering on the service revenue growth guidance, margin expansion, operating cash flow growth and improving returns to shareholders,” Toriola said.

Ndukwe further said: “On 8 August 2001, MTN Nigeria started commercial operations, and in 2021 we marked the 20th anniversary of MTN’s business in Nigeria. The transformation we have seen in Nigeria’s economy over that time has been astounding and it is worth celebrating that during this period, we have maintained market leadership, by constantly striving to enhance the value we deliver and continuing to deepen and broaden our products and services. I hope you had the chance to participate in some of the initiatives held to mark the anniversary. “Reaching such a milestone was an opportunity to reflect and refresh our thinking to ensure that we are building on the strong foundations that were established over the last 20 years and drive even more significant impact as we move into a new era,” Ndukwe said.

“There was no better way for us to commemorate our 20th anniversary than by giving more Nigerians the opportunity to participate in our future success, in line with our Ambition 2025 commitment to shared value. To do this, we launched an offer for the sale of 575 million shares held by the MTN Group in MTN Nigeria Communications Plc (the “Company”) in November 2021. The offer was 139.47percent oversubscribed, triggering the release of an additional 86.25 million shares. It also leveraged an innovative digital platform to maximise participation, bringing in 126,720 new retail shareholders, while many of Nigeria’s institutional investors participated in the bookbuild phase of the offer. Of the applicants who successfully applied using the digital platform, 76percent were women and 85percent were under the age of 40, dramatically enhancing the diversity in our shareholder base. The successful public offer was the beginning of a new phase in MTN Nigeria’s journey. We intend to further diversify our shareholder base through a series of offers that will reduce the MTN Group’s shareholding in the Company to 65percent over time. This will provide more opportunities for Nigerians to participate,” he stated further.

According to him, “We are transitioning our business to ensure our commitment to deliver net zero emissions by 2040 is achieved. Five newgas fired independent power plants were commissioned, significantly reducing emissions, while our transition to digital operations has reduced paper and toner consumption by 60percent. Our energy efficiency strategy is also delivering results, with a further reduction of 3,410,355 KW hours of energy used in 2021, building on our reductions in 2020 despite the return to partial work in the office”.

“Our contributions to society in 2021 included more than N200 million for scholarships, the upgrade of thirteen (13) maternal wards in select Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) across the country and the installation of twenty four (24) solar powered boreholes provided by the Foundation, as well as more than 3 billion MB of zero-rated data for COVID-19 and other health websites.

Our continued core focus on governance delivered an 83.4percent increase in our reputation and trust levels with key stakeholders in 2021, demonstrating the impact our efforts are having and providing the basis for even greater partnership going forwards.

“Our economic value addition continued to expand with more than N400 billion spent on our network, N267 billion paid as dividend, and N669 billion contributed to the government in 2021. Since inception, we have now invested more than N3.4 trillion in infrastructure, paid more than N2.5 trillion in dividends, contributed more than N3.5 trillion to the Government in direct and indirect taxes and levies, and generated more than N2.4 million direct and indirect employment opportunities,” the chairman said.