MTN deactivates 600,000 subscribers, CAPEX rises by 39.5%

Bukola Olanrewaju October 31, 2019 TECHNOLOGY, Telecom Leave a comment

….As telco recorded 66,000 registered super agents.

In compliance with the directive of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to deactivate partially registered SIM cards, MTN Nigeria announced that 600,000 active subscribers has been deactivated from its services nationwide.

However, the telecommunication company recorded 61.6 million subscribers at the end of the third quarter, adding 100,000 users quarter on quarter, the Q3 unaudited financial report ended September 30, 2019 stated.

In the report published on Wednesday, MTN said service revenue increased by 12.1 percent to N854.9bn, largely driven by increases of 10.1 per cent and 34.9 per cent, respectively in voice and data revenue.

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The financial report stated that earnings per share rose by 29 per cent to N7.29 while CAPEX increased by 39.5 per cent to N154.1bn.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew by 39.3% to 460.1 billion naira, while capital expenditure jumped 39.5% to 154.1 billion naira.

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MTN said its fintech business gained traction with 21.7 per cent year-on-year growth in revenue, driven by increased adoption of the Xtratime service, allowing subscribers to borrow airtime.

The telco said it launched its super-agent services in August 2019 and recorded 66,000 registered agents.

The company stated that voice remained a key contributor to service revenue at 73.5%, compared to 74.8% in the third quarter of 2018, supported by “relatively stable tariffs” among other things.

Data added 18.0% to operating revenue, up from 15% in the third quarter of the year.

While commenting on the performance of the company, the Chief Executive Officer, MTN Nigeria, Ferdi Moolman, said MTN recorded double-digit growth in service revenue despite the challenging business environment.

According to him, the telco added 1.6 million active data subscribers and 4G population coverage reached over 35 per cent in 64 cities.