According to its audited financial report released on Wednesday (1 Feb. 2023), MTN Nigeria Communications Plc reported revenue in excess of N2 trillion for 2022, a banner year in which turnover increased by one-fifth and the bottom line by roughly the same proportion.
With revenue increasing 21.6% to N2 trillion and service revenue accounting for 99.7% of that total, the accomplishment solidifies the wireless carrier’s position as Nigeria’s largest public corporation by revenue.
Data and digital services were among the income sources that exhibited noticeable development, according to the report’s specifics.
The local division of the Johannesburg-based MTN Group added 7.2 million new customers during the review year, growing its subscriber base by 10.5% to 75.6 million.
“We continued to manage and invest in the resilience of our business and networks, expanding coverage and capacity with a focus on expense efficiencies and disciplined capital allocation,” CEO Karl Toriola said in a separate document accompanying the financials.
“We became the first mobile network operator to launch a 5G network in Nigeria, providing coverage in key cities in the six geopolitical regions. Since its commercial launch in September 2022, we have rolled out 588 sites and brought the 5G network to 5G-enabled smartphones, starting with iPhone users.”
Due to interest revenue on bank deposits, finance income increased slightly to N13.8 billion from N11.9 billion.
Following authorisation from regulators to operate the business, the telecom launched MoMo PSB in May of 2022. According to the most recent data, 2 million new active mobile money wallets had been added from the debut up until the end of December 2022.
In the past year, the number of active fintech subscribers increased by more than half to 14.9 million.
Direct network operational costs, which increased by 18.1% to N459 billion, and finance costs, which increased by around one-third, were the two main factors putting pressure on earnings.
Costs increased significantly, which had a negative impact on the margin, which fell to 17.8% from the fiscal year 2021’s 18.14% net profit margin.
“As of December 31, 2022, the Group had trade receivables of N85.88 billion before projected credit loss of N13.65 billion,” independent auditor Ernst & Young stated in its report.
“The telecommunication industry continues to be impacted by certain macroeconomic challenges that resulted in the Company experiencing uncertainty over the collectability of some of its receivables from specific customers,” it added.
Pre-tax earnings increased to N534 billion from N436.7 billion recorded a year ago, while net earnings increased by 20.2% to N358.9 billion from N298.7 billion.
Another regulatory filing from MTN Nigeria stated that the company would pay shareholders a final dividend of N10 per share, which may total N203.5 billion.
The total dividend payment for the year will be N317.5 billion should the proposal be approved by shareholders (N15.60 per unit). Comparatively, the previous year’s figure was N267.1 billion ($13.12 per share).
With assets of N2.7 trillion as of the end of December 2022, MTN Nigeria is the largest market for the MTN Group, Africa’s largest mobile network provider.