By JKNewsMedia
REPORTING A significant financial setback, Mobile Telephone Network (MTN) Nigeria has revealed an after-tax loss of N514.9 billion for the first nine months of 2024, mainly driven by foreign exchange losses and the naira’s depreciation.
The mobile operator’s report shows that without the currency impact, its profit would have been N118.5 billion. Inflationary pressures, averaging 32.8% in 2024, and the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) interest rate hike to 27.25% have raised MTN’s funding costs and affected operational sustainability.
Subscriber metrics fell amid regulatory restrictions, with total subscribers dipping to 77 million and MoMo wallet users shrinking by 21.8% to 2.8 million.
MTN’s retained earnings and shareholder funds suffered, standing at -N723 billion and -N573.6 billion, respectively. The EBITDA margin also declined by 14.9 points to 36.3%.
CEO Karl Toriola emphasized that MTN has resilient service revenue growth of 33.6%, boosted by data and fintech segments.
However, he warned that without regulatory tariff adjustments, financial pressures may limit MTN’s capacity to maintain service standards and investment in infrastructure expansion.
Toriola also notes that as telecom operators, including MTN, continue discussions with regulators for a 10% tariff increase, he urged for actionable tariff reforms to keep the sector viable against ongoing inflation, high diesel costs, and rising currency challenges.
He also warned that lack of tariff support could force operational cuts, compromising service delivery.
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