MTN Uganda has reported lower profit in the quarter ended March as its operations were hit by the internet shutdown during the national elections in January.
The group on Thursday reported profit after tax for the March quarter declined 3.8% to 174-billion Uganda shillings.
“Our operations in the quarter were partially hampered by the internet shutdown during the national general elections in January 2026 which affected provision of data and mobile money services and onboarding of customers in the period,” said CEO Sylvia Mulinge.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) rose 4.3% to 462.9-billion Uganda shillings.
Earnings were supported by a 7.2% increase in total subscribers to 24.4-million, while data subscribers jumped by 16.4% to 11.9-million.
Service revenue was 7.7% higher at 905.9-billion Uganda shillings, while data revenue grew 13.6% and fintech revenue increased 7.4%.
By the end of the quarter, 4G population coverage had reached 89.3%, while 5G coverage increased to 20.4%
Mulinge said the company also experienced challenges after local government reforms to decongest cities across Uganda. “This unfortunately led to disruptions in our mobile money ecosystem partner operations in the period,” she said.
The Uganda shilling depreciated by 4% during the quarter, following stability for the past two years because of:
- heightened institutional US dollar demand;
- rising global oil prices; and
- market uncertainty stemming from geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.
The group’s capex investment was 201.5-billion Uganda shillings for the quarter, with a strong focus on:
- site densification;
- network upgrades; and
- fibre deployment.
The initiative aligns with the National Telecommunications Operator licence requirement to expand geographical coverage nationwide. By the end of the quarter, 4G population coverage had reached 89.3%, while 5G coverage increased to 20.4%.
Ugandan mobile operators were instructed to reduce mobile termination rates (MTR) from January. For 2026 the MTR has been set at 22.5 Uganda shillings per voice termination across all networks from 26 Uganda shillings in 2025.
“While this reduction impacted on our outgoing voice revenues, the business benefited from lower cost of sales on incoming voice calls. This implementation is expected to deliver long-term benefits for our customers, enhancing affordability and supporting broader access to communication services,” the group said.
The company is maintaining its medium-term guidance of delivering:
- upper-teen service revenue growth;
- stable ebitda margins above 50%; and
- capex intensity (excluding leases) in the mid-teens.
“In the near term, we expect mid-teen service revenue growth following our Q1 challenges and prevailing macro uncertainties, stable ebitda margins above 50%, and capex intensity in the upper-teens as we invest prudently to meet license obligations and reinforce our competitive positioning.”
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.