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Wireless operator MTN Nigeria logged N1.1 trillion in post-tax profit for 2025 in breakaway from two years of sour fortune starting from 2023, during which stormy currency reforms in Nigeria hammered earnings and plunged balance sheet in red.
The return to profit drew big support from a 50 per cent tariff hike announced by the industry regulator last February to succour telcos after a much weaker naira dented operations.
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Not only did that boost earnings, but it also powered the local unit of Johannesburg-based Africa’s biggest mobile service provider, MTN Group, to a record N5.2 trillion revenue.
Data income continued to be the heartbeat of revenue as it solely accounted for more than half of turnover, which advanced 54.9 per cent from the level reported for the prior corresponding period.
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The telecom powerhouse took its active data customer base to 53.2 million after signing up 11.6 per cent more users during the year. Total subscriber base expanded 7.9 per cent to 87.3 million.
Shareholders will be substantially cheered by the news, having had to endure two loss-making years without cash rewards. By tradition, MTN Nigeria pays dividends twice a year.
On Thursday, it announced a dividend per share of N15, which will ultimately hand out N314.9 billion to shareholders as the payout for the year.
MTN Nigeria reported a net loss of N133.8 billion in 2023 after its FX-dependent operations took a blow from sweeping currency reforms in Nigeria that sharply weakened the naira.
A huge one-time devaluation of the local currency in early 2024 deepened the wound, leading the company to an after-tax loss of nearly N400 billion that year and shooting up its negative net asset position to N458 billion.
Enormous net foreign exchange losses, coming to about N1.7 trillion, which dogged performance in those two years, have now been remediated as the corporation posted N90.3 billion in net foreign exchange gains in the review period, helped by exchange rate stability.
The latest audited corporate results showed shareholders’ funds is now out of the woods, valued at N548.7 billion as of the end of last year. EBITDA margin jumped to 52.7 per cent from 39.1 per cent.
CEO Karl Toriola said, “Our balance sheet resilience was driven by the robust performance of the business as well as a focused reduction in foreign currency exposure and financial discipline.”
This month, MTN Group, the parent, entered a pact for a full purchase of IHS Towers, its longtime tower infrastructure provider, for $6.2 billion. It is looking to take the New York-listed company private at the closure of the deal.
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“In the near term, the impact on MTN will be mixed rather than purely positive or negative,” investment bank Meristem Securities said of the transaction in a note last week.
“Once IHS is fully consolidated, future lease payments could come with better concession or better pricing at group level, which should support EBITDA,” it added.
Pre-tax profit stood at N1.7 trillion in the period under review, compared to a loss before tax of N550.3 billion a year earlier. Profit after tax was N1.1 trillion, contrasting with a N400.4 billion loss after tax posted for 2024.
