MTN Nigeria Communications (MTNN) Q4 2024 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Service revenue grew 22.4% year-over-year to N2.5 trillion, driven by strong data and subscriber growth.

• Net loss after tax was N137.0 billion, mainly due to a N740.4 billion net forex loss from naira devaluation.

• Adjusted profit after tax (excluding forex loss) declined 14.3% to N344.5 billion.

• Subscriber base rose 5.3% to 79.7 million; active data users up 12.7% to 44.6 million; MoMo wallets up 163.2% to 5.3 million.

• No final dividend declared due to negative retained earnings.

Financial highlights

• EBITDA increased 12.3% to N1.2 trillion; EBITDA margin fell 4.5pp to 48.7%.

• Free cash flow rose 11.6% to N631.6 billion.

• Capital expenditure up 13.2% to N571.0 billion (ex-leases: up 24.5% to N449.3 billion).

• Net finance costs surged 341.9% to N951.5 billion, mainly due to forex losses.

• Adjusted EPS (excluding forex loss) was N16.56, down 14.1% year-over-year.

Outlook and guidance

• Medium-term EBITDA margin guidance suspended due to macroeconomic volatility, especially naira exchange rate.

• Focus remains on accelerating service revenue growth and restoring earnings and cash flow.

• 2024 expected to be challenging with continued inflation, naira devaluation, and regulatory pressures.