MTN Rwanda Reports Subscriber Growth and 4G Surge Despite Flat Revenue Performance
MTN Rwandacell PLC (MTN Rwanda) proudly announces its business performance for the six-month period ended 30 June 2024 through the Rwanda Stock Exchange, showcasing strong growth in subscribers and significant 4G penetration.
The Company delivered strong mobile, enterprise and MoMo subscriber growth demonstrating the continued demand for its services in the market. Mobile subscribers grew by 7.5% year-over-year (YoY), with a substantial addition of 527,000 subscribers, bringing our total subscriber base to 7.5 million. Active mobile money (MoMo) subscribers sustained a growth of 15.0%, reaching 5.1 million subscribers at the end of the period while Active data subscribers rose by 0.6% YoY, reaching 2.3 million despite increased competitive pressures in the market.
They stated that their Enterprise Business Unit continues to shine, recording strong results, with a 40.2% YoY growth in revenue driven by robust contributions from the mobile and fixed data services. Home broadband subscribers (including fixed wireless access subscribers) grew by 36.6% to 10.1K (up from 7.4K in June 2023) delivering 21.1% revenue growth.
Mobile Money Rwanda Ltd (MMRL), MTN Rwanda’s subsidiary, demonstrated significant progress in its financial inclusion agenda, with a solid revenue growth
performance of 30.6% YoY, and an 83.4% YoY increase in the active merchant base to 441k, showcasing the strong adoption and usage of MoMo payment services.
Furthermore, customer value management initiatives as well as an increase in the overall subscriber penetration to 68% of RGS90, contributed to the deepening of the
fintech ecosystem in the market.
Marking a year since MTN Rwanda received a license to operate its own 4G network, the company has witnessed tremendous growth, with data traffic increasing by
25.9% and 4G users surging by 414.7%. A noteworthy contributor to the 4G adoption is the introduction of the affordable 4G-enabled low-cost smartphone, Ikosora+
through the Connect Rwanda 2.0 initiative, in partnership with the Government of Rwanda, which delivered a 39.0% YoY increase in the number of smartphones
connected to our network to around 2.4 million, with smartphone penetration rising by 7.2 percentage points (pp) YoY to 31.7% (June 2023: 24.5%). This growth
complements notable improvements in our investment in infrastructure, as 4G network coverage now stands at 86.7%, along with increased customer adoption,
enhancing MTN Rwanda’s competitive position in the digital connectivity space.
Mapula Bodibe, MTN Rwanda’s Chief Executive Officer, highlighted the significant growth in the subscriber base across the mobile, enterprise and fintech streams of
the business, reflecting the continued trust and loyalty of Rwandans choosing MTN for their services. To ensure customers continue to find value in MTN’s offerings,
investments in network expansion and modernization were increased in the first half of the year, with capital expenditure increasing 49.4% to reach Rwf 29.5 billion during
the period.
We are extremely pleased with the strong growth in oursubscriber base. We thank our customers for choosing us to enable their journey as they stay connected, achieve their goals, and unlock new digital opportunities. To ensure we continue to provide a superior customer experience to our customers, investing in our network continues to be a priority. Beyond expanding our 4G network—which has yielded impressive results with a tremendous increase in 4G users and traffic, we are also modernizing our network to leverage new digital technologies and deliver quality service. Our plan is to complete the modernization of the Kigali and Western Provinces by the end of 2024 and begin upgrading our sites in major cities and rural areas in 2025, with completion expected by 2027. We believe this will provide the platform to deliver best-in-class connectivity to our customers, improve our margins, and ensure our shareholders are rewarded with sustainable growth and returns.
Mapula Bodibe, Chief Executive Officer, MTN Rwanda
Despite successfully growing our subscriber base, this did not reflect in the growth of our voice and data revenue streams. Service Revenue growth mutedly rose by 0.8% YoY, mainly driven by a growth in fintech and enterprise business revenue. Voice Revenue dropped by 24.3% YoY due to the effects of the Zero Mobile Termination Rate (MTR) regulation. Excluding the impact of Zero Mobile Termination Rates (MTR), Service Revenue growth would be 9.2% YoY. The flat revenue performance coupled with the increase in expenses drove our EBITDA margin lower to 31.3% (13.8 percentage points lower).
We maintained a resilient commercial momentum amidst some volatility in our macroeconomic, regulatory and competitive environment; with a strong growth in our subscriber base, whilst our service revenue experienced a muted growth. This caused a drop in EBITDA due to the rise in expenses which grew 29.0%. The rise in expenses emanated from subsidy costs related to our low-cost 4G smartphone Ikosora+, additional costs related to One Network Area (ONA) permanent roamers in South Sudan and Uganda as well as the impact of the depreciation of the local currency against the US dollar on foreign denominated expenses. Excluding these effects, normalized EBITDA margin would have slightly dropped by 3.2pp. As part of the continued implementation of our expense efficiency programme (EEP), we realised savings of close to Rwf 4.2 billion through various initiatives across the business.
Mark Nkurunziza, Chief Finance Officer, MTN Rwanda
MTN Rwanda identified financial discrepancies related to lease calculations, tax treatments and management fee reversals in 2023. Errors in lease liabilities and right-of-use assets, incorrect tax accounting for a 2022 assessed loss and incorrect reversal of management fees led to overstated assets, liabilities, retained earnings, and understated payables. These matters were addressed and corrected as restated in the financial statements.
We have restated the opening balance of total equity for HY 2023 lower by Rwf 3.1 billion for the net impact of the correction of lease accounting and the adoption of amendment to IAS 12. The HY 2023 PAT was restated lower by Rwf 0.4 billion, to Rwf 5.1 billion. EPS was restated lower by Rwf 0.3 to Rwf 3.8.
Mark Nkurunziza, Chief Finance Officer, MTN Rwanda
On the creating shared value front strategic pillar, MTN Rwanda participated in the “30 Days of Care” campaign in June to celebrate MTN’s 30th anniversary. With the theme “Learn Today, Lead Tomorrow: Education for Rural and Remote Communities,” the initiatives included installing solar panels and digital screens at Group Scolaire Agateko to enhance sustainable education for over 2,500 students and constructing a new kitchen at Groupe Scolaire Bukure in Gicumbi District to improve student attendance, nutrition and overall well-being.
As the second half of the year unfolds, we remain committed to sustaining our commercial momentum and accelerating our service revenue growth, unlocking operational efficiencies and strengthening our balance sheet to improve the profitability of our business.
MTN Rwanda stated that they remain committed to achieving our Ambition 2025 strategic priorities and to continue creating shared value for our stakeholders. They stated that they adjust their FY 2024 guidance to single digit-service revenue growth (in percentage terms), an EBITDA margin range of40% – 42% and a Capex Intensity in the mid-twenties range (in percentage terms).
