Telecom

MTN Declares N60Bn H1 Dividend

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MTN Nigeria Communications Plc has earmarked N60 billion as interim cash dividend to shareholders as the telecommunication company marked its first post-listing performance with considerable growths across major indices.

 

The board of the telco indicated shareholders will receive a dividend per share of N2.95 for the first half ended June 30, 2019. This however represented a drop of 17.83 per cent from N3.59 per share paid for the first half of 2018.

 

Key extracts of the six-month report showed that profit before tax rose by 30.9 per cent to N141.8 billion in first half 2019 as against N108.35 billion recorded in comparable period of 2018. Profit after tax grew by 34.8 per cent from N73.4 billion to N98.93 billion.

 

Total turnover grew by 12.12 per cent to N566.95 billion as against N505.67 billion. Operating profit had risen by 39.49 per cent from N136.50 billion to N190.4 billion. Earnings per share rose by 34.8 per cent to N4.86 compared with N3.61.

 

The report showed that the telco’s mobile subscribers increased by 3.3 million within the first six months of this year to 61.5 million while service revenue increased by 12.2 per cent.

 

Voice revenue increased by 11.4 per cent, data revenue rose by 31.7 per cent while fintech revenue increased by 21.2 per cent.

 

However, digital revenue dropped by 64.5 per cent. The company’s earnings before interest, tax depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 40 per cent to N304.9 billion while EBITDA margin improved by 10.7 percentage points to 53.8 per cent.

 

Ferdi Moolman, MTN Nigeria Communications Plc Chief Executive Officer, described the first half performance as a solid performance as the company continued to invest to improve network quality and expand 4G coverage.

 

He noted that recent work on revamping data prices and accelerating 4G network has put the company in a strong competitive position to offer more value to customers and provide new impetus for overall corporate growth.

 

He said the listing of the company on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in May, this year demonstrated the company’s commitment to the market while providing opportunity to domestic investors to participate in and benefit from the company’s growth.

 

“Our overriding priority for the rest of the year is to focus on our BRIGHT strategy to build a sustainable business and create value for customers. We will continue to progress in the second half of the year making improvements to our network experience, subscriber growth and enhance operational efficiency. We expect lower data pricing and our acceleration of the 4G network expansion to bolster the acquisition of customers and data traffic volumes in the second half,” Moolman said.

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