MTN Data Revenue Increases By 73%

MTN Nigeria Communications Limited has announced a year-on-year increase of 73.2 per cent in revenue from data services for the first quarter of this year.

A statement issued by Public Relations and Protocol Manager, Mr. Funso Aina, on Thursday said the digital mobile operators grew its total revenue for the quarter by 14.4 per cent.

The company, however, did not disclose what the earnings mean in monetary terms. It pledged to release detailed results on May 7.

The statement read in part, “MTN Nigeria subscribers increased by 4.3 per cent quarter-on-quarter to 54.5 million.

“Constant currency (organic) service revenue increased by 14.4 per cent and data revenue increased 73.2 per cent year-on-year.”

The statement quoted the Chief Executive Officer, MTN Nigeria, Ferdi Moolman, to have said, “MTN Nigeria delivered a strong performance for the first quarter of 2018, supported by growth in data revenue and increased scale. We also maintained positive momentum in growing our subscriber base and maintaining our network leadership position.”

He added that MTN continued with the positive momentum of 2017, increasing service revenue by 14.4 per cent year-on-year, supported by a 73.2 per cent increase in data revenue and 15.2 per cent growth in voice revenue.

In the first quarter of 2018, the earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation margin expanded to 41.8 per cent due to well controlled expenses and a stable naira, he added.

The mobile operator reported net additions in the quarter of 2.3 million following on from the two million net additions in the fourth quarter of 2017, which was supported by the increase in the SIM registration footprint.