MTN Nigeria Grows Profit by 70.6%, Declares Interim Dividend
MTN Nigeria Plc grew profit by about 71% year-on-year to N707.541 billion in the first half of financial year 2026, details from the company’s earnings report revealed.
Revenue expanded by 29.5% year-on-year to N2.993 trillion, supported by growth across revenue-generating units like data, voice, digital, fintech and other service and non-service segments.
The telecom company said its revenue performance across segments reflected strong underlying demand, disciplined commercial execution and continued customer adoption of data and digital services.
“The resilience of our core business, together with targeted commercial initiatives, helped contain the impact of the temporary suspension of airtime and data credit service and supported continued growth during the period.
“Data revenue increased by 38.4%, supported by growth in active data users, higher smartphone penetration and sustained demand for high-speed connectivity.
“Network data traffic rose by 25.8%, while average usage per subscriber increased by 15.2% to 14.8GB, reinforcing the depth of demand and the importance of continued capacity investment”.
MTN Nigeria alluded that with smartphone penetration at 66.4%, data remains its largest structural growth opportunity, adding that home broadband remains a strategic growth platform and a key part of its long-term fixed connectivity opportunity.
“We are scaling the business in a disciplined manner, focusing on improving conversion and enhancing customer value while demonstrating attractive unit economics over time.
“As demand for reliable, high-speed broadband continues to grow, our fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) and 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) position us well to drive broadband adoption and capture the significant long-term opportunity.
Voice revenue grew by 12.0%, demonstrating the resilience of the business despite evolving usage patterns and the continued shift towards data-led and OTT channels. Growth was supported by subscriber additions and value-led propositions”, MTN said.
The company noted that Enterprise declined marginally by 0.4%, reflecting portfolio optimisation actions taken in Q1 to improve revenue quality and protect long-term value.
“With these actions largely embedded, we expect a return to growth, supported by resilient demand for connectivity, converged solutions and digital services”.
MTN Nigeria reported that its fintech revenue declined by 7.2%, impacted by the temporary suspension of airtime and data credit service, a significant contributor in the segment.
However, the underlying mobile money business continued to progress, with revenue rising by approximately 132.0% and active wallets increasing by 1.3 million in H1 to 5.0 million.
The company said it also continues to progress the structural separation of the fintech business following shareholder approval, subject to regulatory approvals.
Once completed, the transaction is expected to improve balance sheet flexibility, reduce future funding obligations and allow MTN Nigeria to retain meaningful exposure to long-term fintech growth.
“Our focus remains on building a stronger, more reliable and more relevant fintech platform for the Nigerian market. This involves improving platform stability, strengthening customer experience, deepening rural penetration and pursuing the right licensing pathway”, MTN stated.
Commenting, Karl Toriola, Chief Executive Officer, said: “We delivered a strong first-half performance, with sustained commercial momentum, improved profitability and robust cash generation”.
Toriola said this reflects the resilience of demand for our services, disciplined execution across the business and continued focus on efficiency in a challenging operating environment.
MTN Nigeria CEO explained that the macroeconomic backdrop remained complex, with elevated geopolitical tensions continuing to influence global energy markets and inflationary trends.
He said encouragingly, the naira was stronger and relatively more stable during the period, closing at N1,380/US$ at the end of H1 2026 from N1,530/US$ in the equivalent period in 2025, saying this supported better planning visibility and helped moderate some cost pressures.
“Commercial momentum remained strong, with 4.9 million net additions in H1 lifting our subscriber base to 92.2 million, while active data users increased by 2.5 million to 55.7 million. This reflects stronger customer engagement, sustained demand for data-rich services and continued smartphone adoption.
“Service revenue increased by 25.9%, ahead of our medium-term guidance of at least low-20% growth and 10.4pp above the average inflation rate in H1.
“Growth moderated in Q2, primarily reflecting the full annualisation of prior price adjustments and, to a lesser extent, the temporary suspension of our airtime and data credit service, which impacted fintech revenue during the quarter.
“Service revenue growth excluding airtime and data credit service was 27.3% in H1, demonstrating the strength of our core business and the resilience of customer demand. Our financial performance reflects the strength of the topline and the discipline with which we managed costs.
“Despite energy cost-related pressures, we continued to invest in our network while containing opex growth at 11.3%, expanding EBITDA margin by 5.3pp to 55.9% and delivering a 70.6% growth in PAT.
“We invested N620.5 billion in capex, excluding leases, to strengthen our network and support growth opportunities.
“At the same time, free cash flow increased by 73.9% to N712.7 billion, reflecting strong earnings, disciplined capital allocation and improved operating cash generation, further enhancing our ability to sustain shareholder returns, ” the MTN Nigeria CEO said.
In line with this performance, the Board has approved an interim dividend of N26 per share, payable from the net distributable income, subject to applicable withholding tax.
The dividend will be paid on 7 September 2026 to shareholders whose names appear in the register of members as at the qualification date of 20 August 2026.
Toriola said beyond delivering strong operational performance, MTN Nigeria invested N1.4 billion through the Foundation in initiatives that advance digital inclusion, youth empowerment and national development.
“We also contributed N622.6 billion in taxes and levies to the government to support economic growth. These reflect our commitment to creating shared value and driving sustainable impact in the communities we serve.
“Looking ahead, our focus remains on sustaining service revenue growth, protecting margins within our guidance framework, improving customer experience, accelerating disciplined home broadband execution and strengthening fintech performance.
“We remain confident in the long-term structural opportunity in Nigeria and will continue to execute with discipline to create sustainable value for all stakeholders.
