MTN Nigeria Communications Plc, the largest telecommunications company quoted on the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX), has reported an improved profit of N73.75 billion for the first quarter of the year (Q1 2021).
A glance through the financials of the telecommunications giant revealed that a surge in its SMS, data and voice revenue played a significant role in driving the profit of the firm to N73.75 billion, from N51.74 billion recorded in the corresponding period last year, indicating an increase of 42.5% YoY.
The recent stellar performance is in consolidation to an earlier 2020 Full-Year results posted by the firm. Recall that MTN Nigeria had earlier reported the highest ever revenue recorded by a Nigerian listed entity in FY 2020, after it posted a turnover of N1.3 trillion during the aforementioned period, indicating a surge of about 15.1% YoY.
READ: How Insider Loans, Poor Corporate Governance, and Others Nearly Ruined First Bank – CBN
Maintaining the momentum or status quo, the telecommunications giant reported revenue of N385.32 billion for the first three months of the year (Q1, 2021). The revenue figure indicated an increase of about 17.1% when compared to the sum of N329.17 billion reported in the corresponding period last year. The increase in revenue was largely driven by a spike in some of its key components such as;
- Revenue from SMS rose by 219.8% YoY during the period under review to N10.7 billion.
- Data sales surged by 42.8% YoY to N105.7 billion.
- Interconnect and roaming surged by 17% to N39.3 billion.
- Voice sales rose by 7.5% YoY to N208.6 billion.
The summary of the firm’s Q1 2021 results are succinctly captured below;
- Revenue for the period was N385.3 billion.(+17.06% YoY)
- Direct networking operating costs of N93.9 billion. (+30.2% YoY)
- Employees benefit was N9.32 billion. (+0.5% YoY)
- Profit for the period was N73.7 billion. (+42.5% YoY)
- Net assets per share for the period was N12.4
- Earnings per share of N3.6 Vs N2.5 YoY
Recall that MTN Nigeria had been in the news recently over the ban of its customers from using the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD). This action was subsequently lifted following talks and on-going negotiations with relevant stakeholders. Just recently, the firm also announced that it has raised the sum of N73.5 billion in commercial paper issuances, to finance its operations.
