MTN Nigeria recorded a N1 trillion revenue in the first quarter of this year, buoyed by the recent tariff increment implemented in the middle of February 2025.
Compared with the N752.9 billion recorded in Q1 2024, this represents a 40.5% increase in revenue year-on-year, even as the impact of the tariff adjustment has yet to be fully realized.
According to its Q1 2025 unaudited financial results just released, the company bounced back to profitability in the quarter, posting N133.7 billion profit after tax compared with the N392.7 billion loss it recorded in Q1 2024.
Meanwhile, in line with one of the conditions given by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for the approval of the 50% tariff increment, the company also increased its investment in network capacity, spending N202.4 billion in the first three months of the year.
This represents a 159% increase in CAPEX for the company when compared with the N78.1 billion it spent in the same period of 2024.
MTN added 3.2 million new subscribers in Q1, bringing its total base to 84.1 million. During the same period, the company’s active data users rose by 2.6 million, increasing the base to 50.3 million and contributing to a 46.4% YoY growth in data traffic.
“This growth was supported by our disciplined approach to gross connections and churn management, as well as continuous innovation in customer value propositions,” said MTN Nigeria CEO Karl Toriola.
“We commenced phased implementation of the new tariff structure in mid-February 2025 across our data and voice bundles, with the majority of adjustments taking effect in March.
“While the full impact on usage and revenue is expected from Q2, early indicators suggest continued resilience in customer demand, aided by our targeted CVM initiatives,” he added.
MTN noted that although macroeconomic uncertainties persist, it was encouraged by the relative stability of the naira during the period and the moderation in inflation following the rebasing of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in January 2025.
The exchange rate remained relatively stable at N1,537/US$ at the end of March 2025, while reported inflation was 24.2%.
MTN added that cost pressures were also mitigated by its revised IHS tower lease agreement, which reduced foreign exchange exposure and capped price increases, as well as improved underlying expense efficiency initiatives.
“As a result, EBITDA increased by 65.9%, and the EBITDA margin expanded by 7.2pp to 46.6%, which aligns with our guidance.
“Notably, the stability in the exchange rate in Q1 versus December 2024 helped reduce forex losses,” Toriola stated.
The NCC had on January 20 announced that it had approved a 50% tariff adjustment for telecom operators, citing rising operational costs and the need to sustain the industry.
The NCC said the decision underlines its regulatory role under Section 108 of the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003.
As part of the conditions for the approval, the NCC also gave the telecom operators three months to improve their quality of service, which means they must increase their infrastructure spending.
Speaking at a forum after the approval, Chief Corporate Services and Sustainability Officer of MTN Nigeria, Mr. Tobe Okigbo, said:
“From NCC’s estimation, they expect that in three months, we should be seeing an uplift in service quality, but we will try to make it shorter because the truth is that the better the quality, the more money you spend, and the better for us.”
According to him, many people do not know that telecom operators also lose money when the quality of service is bad, emphasizing why the company would do everything possible to improve its network capacity.
MTN’s share price has seen a significant recovery this year, rebounding from a year-to-date (YtD) loss of 24.24% last year. As of the close of trading on April 29, 2025, the shares were priced at N240, reflecting a YtD gain of 20%.
