MTN reported a loss for the year to December 2024, hit by a sharp drop in the value of the currency in Nigeria and impairments in conflict-hit Sudan.
Total service revenue was down 15% to R178bn. Basic earnings per share swung to a loss of 531c from 227c in 2023. Loss after tax was R11.2bn from a profit of R4bn in 2023.
MTN’s total subscribers grew 2.2% to 290-million. The company operates in 16 countries, including Rwanda, Ghana, Eswatini, Uganda and Cameroon.
Active data subscribers were up 7.7% to 157.8-million, while mobile money (MoMo) monthly active users increased by 0.9% to 63.1-million.
MTN Group CEO Ralph Mupita said: “Our operating context was characterised by sharp devaluation of the naira, along with elevated inflation in some markets. There remained volatility in the geopolitical landscape, which had knock-on effects on our business. In Sudan, the ongoing conflict in the country negatively impacted our operational and financial performance.”
In South Africa, MTN subscribers grew 6.4% to 39.8-million, a net addition of 2.4-million. Group service revenue was up 3.1% to R43.1bn and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and armotisation (ebitda) increased 5.5% to R19.6bn.
Mupita said MTN SA “continued to steer through a challenging macro-environment in 2024, with interest rates remaining relatively elevated and economic growth subdued”.
Competition in the telecoms sector is intensifying, he said.
Mupita said the postpaid or contract segment, enterprise and digital services are doing well, while pre-paid is under pressure.
“Our challenges are on consumer pre-paid, we are not getting the results we would like to see there. We have initiatives that I think should get us to start growing the top line again,” he said during a media briefing.
Prepaid service revenue growth is expected to remain under pressure in the first quarter. Mupita said MTN South Africa is repositioning its propositions to prepaid customers, with initiatives already implemented from February into early March 2025. These include enhancing regionalised and personalised offers.
Commenting on the outlook for 2025, Mupita said though the near-term may present some uncertainties in the group’s macroeconomic environment, “we are encouraged by the overall easing of inflation and local currency volatility prevailing across our footprint. In particular, the recent stability in the naira against the US dollar supports a positive outlook for MTN Nigeria, should it sustain.”
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