MTN Ghana, a subsidiary of South Africa-based MTN Group saw a strong first-quarter performance with earnings, before interest tax depreciation and amortisation, increasing 31.5% to GHS2.15 billion (about R2.9bn) in the quarter to March 31, 2024.
The results, released yesterday, showed that despite inflation remaining high in that country at an average 24.4%, and an 8.4% decline in the value of the Ghanaian Cedi compared with the US dollar, service revenue grew by 32.4% for the quarter, year-on-year.
The company benefited from a focus on driving topline growth and cost efficiencies, as well as efforts to create share value among stakeholders.
CEO Stephen Blewett said in a statement that MTN Ghana was committed to facilitate national roaming partnerships with AT (formerly AirtelTigo) and Telecel (formerly Vodafone). MTN Ghana had entered a long-term agreement with AT, from January 2024, and was in the final phase of negotiations with Telecel.
“We are pleased with the progress in our goal to promote socio-economic development and lead digitalisation in the country,” said Blewett.
Service revenue growth was underpinned by growth in data, MoMo and voice.
Investment of GHS327.1 million was made to maintain network quality, expand coverage and capacity, as well as enhance the IT systems. Additionally, GHS525.1m was spent on spectrum during the period.
There was 1.2% growth in the subscriber base following a reduction from the sim re-registration exercise completed in 2023. This brought the total number of subscribers to 27.8 million by quarter end. The data revenue contribution to total service revenue increased to 47.4% from 39.3%.
The macroeconomic outlook for Ghana for the rest of 2024 was expected to remain challenging due to high inflation, currency volatility, and foreign exchange scarcity. The cost efficiency programme to safeguard margins and preserve liquidity would continue.
“MTN Ghana is committed to enhancing our platforms, like myMTN, ayoba, and the MoMo app, to provide improved services,” said Blewett.
“Additionally, we aim to capitalise on the high demand for data, especially in rural areas, and promote the use of smartphones.
“We maintain our medium-term guidance on service revenue growth at high twenties (in percentage terms),” he said.
BUSINESS REPORT