MTN records $385.1bn revenue in Q1 2021, 5 million subscriber loss
Telecom provider, MTN has recorded a service revenue growth by 17.2% YoY to N385.1 billion during the first quarter of 2021. This is up 5.4% from the N365.2bn of the previous quarter.
Karl Toriola, MTN CEO announced: “We made good progress in the first quarter of 2021 despite the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
As revealed in its reports the tremendous feat can be credited to the huge growth of data and voice revenue despite the impact of the pandemic and a decline in subscribers.
The report further reveals that voice revenue, which generated 63% of the total sum, grew by 8.0% from N226.5Bn to N244.6Bn. This growth was supported by the 8.7% increase in traffic and customer value management initiatives. Data revenue saw even higher growth. The report shows that it maintained the positive momentum from Q4 2020, rising by 42.6% YoY to N105.6Bn.
Expenses rose by 14.8% to N180.7bn, mainly driven by a 19.2% increase in operating expenses arising from an accelerated site rollout and the effects of Naira depreciation on lease rental costs.
Similarly, Capital expenditure in the quarter was N89.9 billion, up 19.3% mainly due to site rollouts, while free cash flow increased by 18.9% to N114.7 billion.
MTN explained that the effect of the SIM ban on voice revenue was offset by increased usage by active SIMs in its base and migration to a higher quality of experience.
This was fueled by increased usage, traffic, the boost in 4G penetration and increased network capacity following the acquisition and activation of an additional 800MHz spectrum in March 2021.
Insights from the report show that that data traffic increased by 86.7% with the addition of the 800MHz spectrum enhancing output by 79%.
With the huge revenue MTN raked during the quarter, its profit should have been higher than the N73.7 bn reported. The dropped was caused by the double-digit growth in expenses.
The telco however said the overall increase in expenses was partly mitigated by the comparatively moderate growth of 7.8% in the cost of sales following the suspension of new SIM sales and activations.
Additionally, the report also shows that Mobile subscribers declined by 5 million to 71.5 million while Active data users declined marginally by 71,000 to 32.5 million.
According to the Telco giant, the 4-month NCC ban on new SIM sales and registration effectively curtailed subscriber growth. During the ban, MTN lost a total of 9.2 million subscribers – representing 75% of the 12.2m subscribers it added in the entire 2020.
RECOMMENDED ARTICLES
Comment
No comments found.