…CEO Toriola confident in the company’s structural demand drivers
…Pre-tax profit of N546.42 billion (+169.6% y/y) and a profit after tax of N355.50 billion (+165.9%).
…EBITDA and EBIT margins expanded by 871bps y/y and 981bps y/y to 55.3% and 42.2%, respectively
THUR APRIL 30 2026-theGBJournal| MTN Nigeria Communications Plc (MTNN) has reported a stellar 165.9% y/y increase in EPS to N16.95 (Q1-25: N6.38), driven by revenue growth of 41.6% y/y, reflecting subscriber growth (+6.5% y/y), strong data demand, and the base effect of tariff adjustments implemented in 2025.
Service revenue increased by 41.8% y/y to N1.49 trillion, reflecting notable growth across all key segments – data (+56.2% y/y; 55.6% of revenue), voice (+22.5% y/y; 33.5% of revenue), digital (+12.1% y/y; 2.0% of revenue), fintech (+77.9% y/y; 4.3% of revenue), and other service revenue (+36.7% y/y; 4.7% of revenue).
Non-service revenue (device and SIM card sales) rose by 13.0% y/y to N9.31 billion.
”Commercial performance remained strong, underpinned by robust underlying trends across customer additions, consumption patterns, and data traffic. We added 2.3 million revenue – generating subscribers and 1.8 million active data users in Q1, while data traffic grew by 22.9%,” said CEO Karl Toriola, while commenting on the earnings.
Data remained the primary growth driver, supported by subscriber expansion, increased usage, and pricing adjustments.
Data subscriber base rose by 9.5% y/y to 55.0 million, with net additions of 1.80 million in Q1-26. Data traffic also increased by 22.9% y/y, while average monthly usage per subscriber grew by 12.3% y/y to 14.3GB, reflecting sustained demand for reliable and high speed connectivity.
According to Toriola, to support this momentum, we invested N390.3 billion in capex excluding leases, prioritizing network capacity and quality of experience.
”The more supportive FX backdrop enabled us to accelerate this investment while strengthening our ability to capture future revenue opportunities.”
On voice, the segment’s growth was driven by subscriber growth (+6.5% y/y to 89.5 million | Q1-26 net additions: +2.20 million), stable usage trends, and pricing adjustments.
Elsewhere, the growth in digital reflected higher demand for content, while fintech growth was driven by increased adoption, higher transaction volumes, and stronger interest income.
Meanwhile, total expenses increased by 18.5% y/y (cost of sales: +25.0% y/y; operating expenses: +16.1% y/y), significantly below revenue growth, reflecting operating leverage. As a result, EBITDA and EBIT margins expanded by 871bps y/y and 981bps y/y to 55.3% and 42.2%, respectively.
Further down, net finance costs declined by 38.7% y/y to N85.88 billion, driven by lower interest expense (-55.1% y/y), higher finance income (+228.4% y/y), and a net FX gain of N33.30 billion (vs FX loss of N5.53 billion in Q1-25).
Finally, MTNN reported a pre-tax profit of N546.42 billion (+169.6% y/y) and a profit after tax of N355.50 billion (+165.9%).
”Looking ahead, we remain confident in the structural demand drivers underpinning our business, while recognising that the operating environment will remain dynamic.
We will continue to prioritise network investment and customer experience, ensuring we are well-positioned to capture growth opportunities,” Toriola said.
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