MTN Nigeria Communications Plc has released its financial results for the nine months ended September 30, 2025, signaling a remarkable recovery and demonstrating robust operational momentum. The company successfully reversed a massive prior-year loss, restored positive financial positions, and declared an interim dividend, all while accelerating key network investments.
The turnaround was underpinned by a significantly improved macroeconomic environment, namely a stronger Naira, easing inflation, and the start of monetary policy easing which allowed the company’s strategic execution and efficiency initiatives to deliver outsized results.
Key Financial Highlights: A Return to Profitability and Strength
The most striking aspect of the results is the return to strong profitability and a significant repair of the balance sheet:
CEO Karl Toriola highlighted the milestone of restoring positive retained earnings and shareholders’ equity, attributing the success to a “more favourable macroeconomic environment and price adjustments,” coupled with disciplined execution of strategic initiatives.
MTN Nigeria demonstrated solid growth across its commercial segments, sustaining a strong customer base and deepening data usage:
- Subscriber Growth: Total subscribers grew by to million, while active data users increased by to million.
- Data and Fintech: Data revenue surged by , with average data usage per user rising by to $\mathbf{13.2}$GB. Fintech revenue also rose by , supported by higher interest income and an expanding agent/merchant network.
- Capex Acceleration: Capital expenditure (excluding leases) was dramatically increased by to billion. This investment was aimed at capacity expansion, rolling out Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH), and deploying a new data center to improve quality of service.
- Spectrum Acquisition: The company entered a crucial spectrum lease agreement with T2 Mobile (formerly 9Mobile), securing additional capacity in the and bands to manage increasing network traffic and demand.
The CEO noted that improved macroeconomic conditions were crucial to the financial recovery:
- Currency Stabilization: The Naira appreciated from in December 2024 to by September 2025, which helped contain foreign currency-linked costs. A significant factor in the turnaround was a billion net forex gain, a sharp reversal from the billion loss recorded in 9M 2024.
- Easing Inflation: Headline inflation steadily abated from to during the period, easing cost pressures.
- Monetary Policy: The Central Bank’s decision to reduce the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) by basis points signaled a positive start to monetary policy easing, bolstering investor confidence.
MTN Nigeria is confident in sustaining this momentum, projecting its full-year 2025 service revenue growth and EBITDA margin to be at least in the low-50s.
Looking ahead, the company maintains its medium-term guidance (2026 onwards), targeting average service revenue growth of at least ‘low-20%’ and an EBITDA margin in the range. This outlook is predicated on a stable economic environment, with inflation rates below and the exchange rate stabilized, reinforcing the company’s commitment to driving long-term sustainable value for its shareholders and the Nigerian economy.