MTN Nigeria profit hits 55.30% in 9 months as service revenue rises to N4.6trn

MTN Nigeria Communications Plc has delivered strong earnings growth in the nine months to September 30, 2026, with Profit After Tax (PAT) up 55.3per cent to N1.16 trillion from N750.2 billion in the same period last year, driven by robust service revenue.

Service revenue rose 23.7per cent to N4.6 trillion, underpinned by growth in data adoption and improved operating efficiency, according to its unaudited group results filed on the Nigerian Exchange.

Its Chief Executive Officer,  Karl Toriola,  said “We delivered a very strong third quarter, reversing the temporary slowdown in Q2. Service revenue grew 19.7per cent (8.4per cent QoQ), with growth accelerating each month to 21.6per cent in September.

“Profitability grew even faster: Q3 EBITDA rose 32.8per cent (12.5per cent QoQ) and the EBITDA margin widened by 5.8pp to 58.7per cent.

“For the nine months, service revenue grew 23.7per cent with an EBITDA margin of 56.9per cent. Both are comfortably within the guidance of ‘at least low-20per cent ’ revenue growth and a ‘mid-to-high-50per cent ’ margin.

“Growth is increasingly volume-led, driven by more users, deeper data adoption, higher usage and rising demand for home broadband, supported by continued investment in network coverage, capacity and quality.

“In fintech, core mobile money revenue more than doubled, up 102.2per cent, while our airtime and data credit service continued to recover following its resumption under a multi-partner model, with revenue up 78.5per cent on Q2,” he said.

MTN Nigeria delivered Free cash flow of N1.2 trillion, up 57.5per cent, reflecting strong cash generation.

The cash generation was underpinned by higher earnings and disciplined capital allocation, delivered alongside continued network investment and supporting shareholder returns.

Also, MTN Nigeria has maintained consistent revenue growth as it takes advantage of the country’s growing young population that crave for consumption.

 Interestingly, data was the main contributor to growth, supported by voice, digital services and home broadband.

The company’s total revenue increased by 23.6per centnt to N4.61 trillion the first nine month of 2026, from N3.73 trillion as at September 2025.

Data revenue rose 35.8per cent (Q3 2026: 31.4per cent), driven by growing digital adoption across our base.

Active data users increased by 12.0per cent to 57.2 million, and average monthly usage per active data user grew by 16.2per cent to 15.3GB for the nine months (Q3 2026: 17.2GB), lifting network data traffic by 30.1per cent.

Smartphones on MTN’s network rose 12.4per cent YoY as customers upgraded to 4G- and 5G-capable devices, bringing smartphone penetration to 66.0%, up 0.9pp YoY.

Home broadband is becoming an increasingly important contributor to growth, supported by MTN’s leadership position in the Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) market.

FTTH now carries approximately 13per cent of total data traffic, helping to free up capacity on the mobile network while enhancing the efficiency and scalability of the network.

Voice revenue grew by 11.1per cent (Q3 2026: 9.3per cent), supported by a 10.9per cent increase in mobile subscribers to 94.7 million and targeted propositions, which offset softer usage per subscriber as customers shift towards data.

Digital revenue increased by 24.0per cent and accelerated to 30.6per cent growth in Q3.

 Growth was led by rich media services and mobile advertising.

Enterprise revenue increased by 6.5per cent, led by bulk SMS, fixed connectivity and converged services, supported by the acquisition of high-quality customers.

In fintech, the core mobile money business continued to scale, with revenue up 102.2per cent driven mainly by higher float income as wallet balances more than quadrupled to N43.8 billion from December 2025.

In August 2026, MoMo PSB moved to its new Alipay+ platform. Built for reliability and scale, it offers a richer, more feature-packed and secure customer experience, giving MoMo PSB the foundation to become a scaled digital financial services platform. Monthly active users at the end of Q3 were 3.2 million.

Strong balance sheet means strength and resilience

MTN Nigeria closed the period with a net cash position of N47.7 billion, compared to N104.80 billion as at December 2025, after paying N860.8 billion in dividends, covering the full-year (FY) 2025 final and 2026 interim, and increasing network investment.

The company’s interest earned exceeded the interest payable on borrowings, resulting in a net interest income position and underscoring the strength of the balance sheet, which remains fully naira-denominated and fixed-rate.