Onome Amuge
MTN Nigeria has reported a financial turnaround, recording a profit after tax of N414.9 billion in the first half of 2025. This marks a decisive reversal from the loss posted in the previous year, according to the telecommunications giant’s consolidated financial statements for the second quarter and first half of the year.
The return to profitability was underpinned by a rise in service revenue, which soared by 54.6 per cent year-on-year to N2.36 trillion. This strong performance is largely attributed to resilient demand for MTN’s services, coupled with a series of proactive price adjustments implemented during the period.
“We are excited by the progress made in the first half of 2025, reflecting the successful execution of the strategic priorities we previously communicated to the market. Building on the momentum from the first quarter, we delivered strong growth in service revenue for the period under review. This was driven by robust demand for our services, proactive customer value management, and price adjustments, mainly in Q2,”Karl Toriola, MTN Nigeria’s CEO remarked.
The company’s financial health was further underscored by an improvement in core profitability metrics. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 119.5 per cent to N1.2 trillion, pushing the company’s EBITDA margins to 50.6 per cent.. Furthermore, the company’s free cash flow (FCF), a key indicator of its ability to fund future investments and returns to shareholders, grew by 18 per cent year-on-year to N409.8 billion.
Central to this success has been MTN’s sustained commitment to capital expenditure. In the first half of 2025 alone, the company invested N565.7 billion in capital expenditure, excluding leases. These funds were deployed to boost its 4G sites, expand its fibre rollout, and build out passive infrastructure.
The results show that customer demand for both data and voice services remains resilient, even after recent price hikes. Data revenue jumped by 69.2 per cent, driven by a 46.4 per cent growth in data traffic. Voice revenue also saw strong gains, increasing by 40.3 per cent, a testament to the continued relevance of traditional mobile services in the Nigerian market.
MTN’s network expansion efforts are seen to be paying off handsomely. The company added over 2,300 sites during the period, expanding its 4G coverage to 82.4 per cent of the population. The broader rollout of fibre into more cities and towns, coupled with rising smartphone penetration, which climbed to 60.7 per cent, has created a fertile ground for data consumption, further boosting revenues.
While the financial metrics were overwhelmingly positive, the report presents a mixed picture in customer-facing segments. MTN’s total subscriber base grew by 6.7 per cent year-on-year to 84.7 million, reinforcing its market leadership. The number of active data users also saw a healthy increase of 11.8 per cent, reaching 51 million.
However, a key area of concern emerges from the performance of the company’s financial services arm. The number of MoMo wallet users plunged by 51.1 per cent year-on-year to 2.7 million, reflecting challenges in gaining market traction and competing with other digital payment platforms. This sharp decline in a strategic growth area stands as a notable counterpoint to the otherwise stellar results, indicating that MTN’s dominance in telecommunications has not yet translated into similar success in the fintech space.
