MTN Nigeria Adds 2.3 Million New Subscribers in Q1

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MTN Nigeria reported net additions in the first quarter of 2.3 million to reach a total of 54.53 million customers at the end of March, an increase of 4.3 percent compared to the end of 2017. The figure follows 2.0 million additions in Q4, as the business benefited from the increase in SIM registration footprint, MTN said.

The mobile operator also reported service revenue up by 14.4 percent year-on-year, led by a 73.2 percent increase in data revenue and 15.2 percent growth in voice revenue. ARPU improved 0.6 percent on a quarterly basis to NGN 1,493 and was up from NGN 1,131 a year ago.

MTN Nigeria’s stronger-than-expected growth in revenue allowed the business to benefit from increased scale. With expenses well controlled, and the naira stable, the EBITDA margin expanded in the quarter by 340 basis points to 41.8 percent.

MTN invested ZAR 1.7 billion in Capex in the first quarter of 2018 and said it maintained its leading network position following the marked improvement in the network in 2017.

MTN confirmed that it expects to complete an IPO of the Nigerian subsidiary in 2018. On 07 May, it will release more detailed results for MTN Nigeria.