By Desire Emmanuel
South Africa’s MTN said on Tuesday, May 12, that its core earnings jumped 27.9 per cent in the first quarter, outpacing revenue growth as tighter cost control and strong performances in Nigeria and Ghana boosted profit.
Africa’s biggest telecom operator, which has more than 310 million customers in 16 markets across the continent, said in a statement that its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the three months ended March 31 rose to 27.6 billion rand ($1.67 billion).
Its EBITDA margin also widened by 3 percentage points to 47.6 per cent.
Group service revenue, excluding the effect of currency fluctuations, grew by 21.1 per cent to 56.8 billion rand, led by strong performances in MTN Nigeria, up 41.7per cent, MTN Ghana, up 35.7 per cent, MTN Cameroon, up 14.4 per cent and MTN Cote d’Ivoire, up 18.3 per cent.
Despite the continued competitive pressure on the prepaid market at MTN South Africa, service revenue growth edged up by 0.7 per cent.
MTN said its prepaid recovery strategy remains on track, focusing on improving distribution, refreshing its offerings, tightening credit and competing more actively.
The company said the business is showing early signs of stabilising, with growth in cash recharges offsetting a decline in XtraTime usage, a service that allows prepaid customers to borrow airtime and data bundles from MTN when running low.
Data remained the biggest contributor to overall group service revenue growth, rising 35.4 per cent. Voice revenue grew by 4.7 per cent, while financial services revenue jumped 20 per cent, MTN said.
On energy supply risks, MTN said it is working with its partners to ensure sufficient energy availability to meet its ongoing diesel needs.
