MON NOV 02 2026-theGBJournal| MTN Nigeria Communications Plc (MTNN) reported a 36.5% year-on-year increase in standalone earnings per share (EPS) to NGN21.84 in the third quarter of 2026, taking nine-month EPS growth to 55.3% at NGN55.60.
The earnings improvement, according to the company’s unaudited results released after market close on Friday, October 30, was driven by robust revenue growth, expanding operating margins and a sharp decline in net finance costs.
Revenue rose 19.7% year-on-year in the quarter, while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) margin expanded 578 basis points to 58.7%. Net finance costs fell 51.1% to NGN21.89 billion.
For the nine months through September, revenue increased 23.6% year-on-year, while EBITDA margin widened 548 basis points to 56.9%.
Data drives revenue growth
Data remained MTN Nigeria’s biggest growth engine, with revenue from the segment climbing 31.4% year-on-year in the third quarter, accounting for 60.6% of total revenue.
Service revenue increased 19.7%, supported by growth in data, voice, digital and other services. Voice revenue rose 9.3%, digital revenue gained 30.6%, while other service revenue increased 13.3%.
Fintech revenue, however, plunged 58.1%, reflecting the earlier suspension of the airtime and data credit service in the second quarter. The service has since resumed through multiple partners, with revenue recovering 78.5% quarter-on-quarter. Full restoration is targeted by the end of November.
Non-service revenue, largely comprising device and SIM card sales, grew 22.1% year-on-year. Overall revenue increased 8.4% from the previous quarter.
The expansion in data revenue was underpinned by subscriber growth and rising consumption. Active data users increased 12% year-on-year to 57.2 million, with the company adding 1.5 million users during the quarter.
Smartphone penetration reached 66%, up 90 basis points from a year earlier, while average monthly data consumption per active user rose 16.2% to 15.3 gigabytes in the nine months through September. Quarterly usage averaged 17.2GB.
Home broadband also continued to expand, with fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) accounting for about 13% of total data traffic.
Voice revenue growth remained comparatively modest as customers increasingly shifted towards data services, although subscriber numbers rose 10.9% year-on-year to 94.7 million.
Margin expansion lifts earnings
MTN Nigeria kept cost growth below revenue expansion, with total expenses rising 5% year-on-year in the quarter. Cost of sales increased 9.8%, while operating expenses grew 3.2%.
The relatively subdued operating cost growth reflected the benefits of naira appreciation, VAT input claims and cost-optimisation measures, which helped offset higher diesel-related tower expenses.
The resulting improvement in operating leverage lifted EBITDA margin by 578 basis points to 58.7%.
Lower finance costs support bottom line
Below the operating line, net finance costs declined 51.1% year-on-year to N21.89 billion, supported by an 89.9% increase in finance income to N35.78 billion and an 18.5% reduction in finance costs to N101.45 billion.
The improvement came despite a 28% decline in net foreign-exchange gains to N43.78 billion.
For the nine-month period, net finance costs fell 37.6% to N196.86 billion.
Profit before tax rose 39.6% year-on-year to N704.06 billion, while profit after tax increased 36.5% to N457.63 billion. The gains came despite a 151-basis-point increase in the effective tax rate to 35%, from 33.5% a year earlier.
For the nine months through September, profit before tax surged 59.4% to N1.80 trillion, while profit after tax climbed 55.3% to N1.17 trillion.
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