MTN Ghana reports significant increase in profit and revenue; declares interim dividend

MTN Ghana, the leading telecommunications operator in the country, has announced substantial growth in both pretax profit and revenue for the first half of the year. 

The company's exceptional performance is attributed to remarkable growth in voice, data, and Mobile Money revenue. As a result, MTN Ghana has revised its medium-term guidance upwards, expecting high-20s percentage growth in service revenue.

For the six months ended June 30, 2023, MTN Ghana recorded a pretax profit of GH₵2.44 billion ($213.6 million), a significant rise compared to GH₵1.68 billion achieved in the first half of 2022. Additionally, the company's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) also improved, reaching GH₵3.47 billion, up from GH₵2.68 billion in the same period last year.

Total revenue for the group surged to GH₵6.18 billion, up from GH₵4.67 billion in the previous year. Notably, service revenue experienced a remarkable 32% increase, reaching GH₵6.16 billion in the first half.

The company attributes its outstanding performance to the expansion of network capacity and coverage, along with improvements in IT systems and service delivery. These factors have supported the usage of the company's services by its 27.3 million subscribers across Ghana.

The rise in data revenue is especially noteworthy, growing by 41.0% year on year to GHS 2.6 billion. This growth was driven by an increase in active users, growth in data traffic, and effective price revisions. Similarly, MoMo (Mobile Money) revenue increased by 48.8% year on year to GH₵1.3 billion, supported by cash-out revenue and advanced services revenue.

Despite these remarkable achievements, digital revenue experienced a decline of 22.1% year on year to GH₵63.6 million. However, MTN Ghana is executing portfolio rationalization initiatives to enhance digital services and aims to return to positive growth in digital revenues by 2024.

Regarding costs, MTN Ghana is committed to managing expenses effectively to mitigate the impact of macroeconomic dynamics on the business. The company also made investments in property, plant, and equipment, leading to increased depreciation charges.

The positive financial results have enabled MTN Ghana to declare a gross interim dividend of GH₵0.05 per share for the period ended June 30, 2023, subject to appropriate taxes. Shareholders registered on or before August 18, 2023, qualify for the dividend payment scheduled for September 8, 2023.