Earmarks N71.2bn Interim Dividend
Declares PBT Of N139.6bn
Voice subs rise 6.8m
Data subscribers now 29m
BY LINDA JACOBS, Lagos
MTN Nigeria Communications (MTNN) Plc in the first half of the year 2020 achieved 6.8 million in net additions to connect over 71.1 million customers to its network.
The number one mobile network operator (MNO) in Nigeria also connected 3.8 million new users to the internet, bringing its active data subscribers to 29 million while declaring a profit before tax (PBT) of N139.57 billion in its unaudited half-year result for the period ended June 30, 2020.
Also, the communication company proposed an interim dividend of N71.24 billion, representing N3.50 kobo per two kobo ordinary share, which is subject to appropriate deduction of withholding tax and will be paid to shareholders whose names appear in the Register of Members as or the close of business on August 14, 2020.
This make MTNN, the first company to offer interim dividend as investors await announcements from the other regular interim dividend paying stocks.
The half year released today on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) revealed that profit before tax fell by two per cent from N142.404 billion to N139.57 billion, while net profit stood at N94.877 billion, a 14.5 per cent decline from the N99.537 billion reported in the corresponding period of 2019.
Further analysis showed that, the company reported a 15.6 per cent growth in mobile subscriber base to 71.1 million. Total revenue for the period climbed by N566.946 billion in the first half of 2019, to N638.075 billion, while digital revenue soared from N1.92 billion to N4.258 billion.
Expenses increased by 17.5 per cent from N264.626 billion to N311.014 billion; depreciation and amortization inched 8.5 per cent from N112.968 billion to N122.626 billion; even as net finance costs rose 38.2 per cent from N46.996 billion to N64.966 billion.
Speaking on the results, CEO, MTN Nigeria, Ferdi Moolman said “Following a strong first quarter, we experienced a challenging operating environment in the second quarter characterised by COVID-19 induced lockdowns and the broader macro-economic impact it has had. Despite this, we have maintained double-digit service revenue growth of 12.6 per cent for H1, driven by strong growth in our key revenue lines.”
On outlook, the CEO said “The early trends emerging from the easing of lockdown restrictions indicate a steady normalisation of our revenue mix However, It remains unclear how this will continue to evolve for the remainder of the year giving the ongoing uncertainties presented by the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy and on the customers.
“While we expect the operating environment to remain challenging, we will continue to build on our operational and financial resilience and execute on our strategy to position the business to sustain growth over the medium-term and we also remain on track to achieve our agent network target of 300,000 by year-end,” Moolman added.
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