MTN Group Service Revenue Jumps 23% in First Half of 2025

MTN Group  reported a strong recovery in its half-year financial results to 30 June 2025, underpinned by robust growth in Nigeria and Ghana, improved macroeconomic conditions and a sharp increase in data and fintech revenues.

Revenue and Earnings Performance

Group service revenue increased 23.2% year-on-year to R105.1 billion, or 22.4% in constant currency, compared with R85.3 billion in H1 2024. Total revenue reached R109.3 billion. Data revenue rose 36.5% on a reported basis, while fintech revenue expanded 37.3%.

EBITDA before once-off items surged 60.6% to R46.7 billion, with the EBITDA margin climbing to 42.7% (H1 2024: 32.0%). On a constant currency basis, EBITDA growth was 42.3%, with margin expansion of 7.1 percentage points to 44.2%.

Headline earnings per share (HEPS) recovered to 645 cents, compared with a loss of 256 cents in the prior year. Adjusted HEPS, which strips out once-off and non-operational items, rose 76.1% to 657 cents, from 373 cents in H1 2024. Basic earnings per share turned around to 539 cents, up 231.8% from a loss of 409 cents last year.

Operating free cash flow more than doubled to R20.5 billion, from R9.9 billion in H1 2024. Net-debt-to-EBITDA improved to 0.5x, from 0.7x at December 2024, comfortably below the group’s covenant threshold of 2.5x. Holding company (Holdco) leverage remained stable at 1.5x.

Subscribers and Usage

The group’s total subscriber base rose 4.7% to 297.7 million. Active data subscribers increased 10.3% to 164.4 million, driving a 29.1% increase in data traffic to 11.7 petabytes. Average usage per subscriber climbed 17.1% to 12.4GB per month. Smartphone penetration reached 65.2%, with 193 million smartphones connected to the network.

Mobile Money (MoMo) monthly active users rose 1.8% to 63.2 million. Transaction volumes increased 14.5% to 11.1 billion, while transaction values grew 45.4% to US$212.2 billion. Within MoMo, advanced services revenue grew 42.0%, raising its share of total MoMo revenue to 33.4%, up 3.8 percentage points year-on-year.

Regional Performance

• Nigeria: Service revenue surged 54.1% in constant currency, driven by higher demand, price adjustments and stable foreign exchange conditions. Data revenue grew 68.5%, voice revenue rose 39.9%, and fintech revenue jumped 71.2%. EBITDA increased 117.5%, lifting the EBITDA margin to 50.4%. Profit after tax was R4.9 billion, compared with a prior-year loss of R8.2 billion.

• Ghana: Service revenue grew 39.9%, supported by a 50.2% rise in data revenue, 13.2% growth in voice revenue and a 43.3% increase in fintech revenue. EBITDA rose 46.0%, with margins improving to 58.5%.

• South Africa: Service revenue increased 2.3%, data revenue rose 4.3%, but EBITDA declined 3.9%, with margins flat at 36.5%. Prepaid voice remained under pressure, while postpaid, enterprise and fixed wireless access segments showed growth.

• Uganda: Service revenue rose 13.3%, data revenue climbed 31.4% and fintech revenue expanded 18.6%. EBITDA increased 17.8%, with margins improving to 53.7%.

• West and Central Africa (WECA): Regional service revenue rose 17.0%, with data up 29.5% and fintech up 26.4%. Ghana and Cameroon drove growth, while Côte d’Ivoire showed early signs of recovery.

• Middle East and North Africa (MENA): Service revenue increased 613.5%, mainly from MTN Sudan, which returned to growth despite conflict conditions.

Capital Expenditure and Investments

MTN spent R20.8 billion on capex (excluding leases), up 54.8% from H1 2024. Including leases (IFRS 16), capex reached R27.3 billion. The group rolled out 1,443 3G, 1,766 4G and 542 5G sites during the period. Full-year capex guidance was raised to R33–38 billion from R30–35 billion, largely due to stronger foreign exchange rates affecting Ghana’s costs.

Looking ahead, MTN upgraded its medium-term service revenue growth guidance to “at least high-teens”, from “at least mid-teens.” Nigeria revised its FY 2025 outlook to “at least low-50%” service revenue growth and EBITDA margin of at least 50%, while Ghana now targets mid-to-upper thirties growth with margins in the mid-to-high 50s. South Africa’s guidance was moderated to low-to-mid single-digit growth, with EBITDA margins of 35–37%.

“The Group reported a pleasing set of results, driven by strong commercial execution, disciplined capital allocation and improved macroeconomic conditions. We are encouraged by the acceleration in our topline and recovery in our profitability and free cash flow generation. We have raised our overall medium-term guidance, underlining the strength of our portfolio as well as our commitment to accelerate the growth in our business and continue to unlock value for our shareholders and broader stakeholders.”

-Ralph Mupita, Group President and CEO, MTN