Wrap Text
Quarterly update for the period ended 31 March 2024
MTN Group Limited
(Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa)
(Registration number 1994/009584/06)
(Share code MTN)
(ISIN: ZAE000042164)
(MTN or the Company or the Group)
Quarterly update for the period ended 31 March 2024
MTN is a pan-African mobile operator with the strategic intent of 'Leading digital solutions for Africa's
progress'. We have 288 million customers in 18 markets and are inspired by our belief that everyone
deserves the benefits of a modern connected life.
Highlights
- Group service revenue decreased by 18.8% (up 11.1%*)
o Voice revenue decreased by 32.2% (down 1.4%*)
o Data revenue decreased by 14.7% (up 20.2%*)
o Fintech revenue increased by 11.4% (up 25.0%*)
- Total subscribers increased by 1.0% to 287.6 million
- Active data subscribers up by 7.8% to 149.2 million
- Active Mobile Money (MoMo) monthly active users (MAU) up by 6.2% to 65.5 million
- Data traffic increased by 36.2% to 4 359PB
- Fintech transaction volumes increased by 18.3% to 4.8 billion and transaction value up by 11.2%*
to US$72.3 billion
* Constant currency information after accounting for the impact of the pro forma adjustments as defined and included throughout this Stock Exchange News Service of the JSE Limited (JSE)
(SENS) announcement.
% change
% change constant
Rm 1Q 24 1Q 23 reported currency
Group service revenue 42 901 52 831 (18.8%) 11.1%
- South Africa 10 413 10 108 3.0% 3.0%
- Nigeria 10 269 21 744 (52.8%) 31.8%
Group EBITDA~ (before once-off items) 17 295 24 265 (28.7%) 3.9%
- South Africa# 4 519 4 554 (0.8%) (0.8%)
- Nigeria 4 090 11 627 (64.8%) (1.9%)
Group EBITDA margin 37.9% 43.7% (5.8 pp) (2.5 pp)
- South Africa# 34.9% 36.1% (1.2 pp) (1.2 pp)
- Nigeria 39.5% 53.3% (13.8 pp) (13.8 pp)
Capital expenditure (capex, IFRS 16) 8 996 14 806
- Capex (ex-leases) 5 385 6 375
- Capex intensity (ex-leases) 11.8% 11.5%
~ Group earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation.
# Excludes any once-offs including gains and losses on disposals.
Unless otherwise stated, financial and non-financial growth rates are presented on a constant currency basis and are year-on-year (YoY,
3 months to March 2024 versus 3 months to March 2023).
1
Service revenue excludes device and SIM card revenue. Data revenue is mobile and fixed access data and excludes roaming and wholesale.
Fintech includes MoMo, insurance, airtime lending and e-commerce. Active data users are a count of all subscribers at a point in time who
had a revenue-generating event in the specified period (90 days) prior to that point in time and during the past 30 days had data usage
greater than or equal to 5 megabytes. MoMo users are 30-day active users. Non-financial numbers included in this quarterly update are
reported excluding Afghanistan in the base year following the Group's exit in February 2024. MTN Afghanistan results have been disclosed
up to February for 2024 as a result the 2023 comparatives include the results for the two months ending February 2023.
Group President and CEO Ralph Mupita comments:
Resilient performance in a challenging macro
"The macro environment in first quarter of 2024 remained challenging with ongoing high inflation as
well as local currency devaluations in some of our key markets. Although still elevated, we are
encouraged by the abating trend in the blended rate of inflation across our footprint, which reduced to
13.7% in Q1 2024; compared to 18.5% in Q1 2023 and 15.4% in Q4 2023. In Nigeria, we saw strong
underlying commercial momentum in the business, despite the financial impacts of the sharp
devaluation of the naira and continued elevated inflation during the period.
Global geopolitical tensions remained elevated and a factor impacting our performance. This included
the ongoing civil war in Sudan, which severely affected network availability and revenue generation in
our business in that market. We were also impacted by cable cuts that resulted in downtime for
significant subsea cables connecting the African continent, particularly in West Africa.
Operational execution and performance
We invested capex (ex-leases) of R5.4 billion year-to-date (YTD) in our networks and platforms, with a
capex intensity of 11.8% in the period. We drove data traffic and fintech transaction volumes growth of
36.2% (up 32.2% excluding JVs) and 18.3% respectively.
The Group delivered an increase in service revenue of 11.1%*, driven by steady growth from MTN South
Africa (MTN SA, up 3.0%); as well as strong performances in MTN Nigeria (up 31.8%*), MTN Ghana
(up 32.4%*) and MTN Uganda (up 19.4%*). Excluding MTN Sudan (down 83.2%*), which remains
impacted by civil war conflict conditions, the Group service revenue growth in Q1 would have been
13.3%*.
Our subscribers increased by 3.0 million to 287.6 million. Base growth was hampered by subscriber
registration regulations in Ghana and Nigeria, as well as a decline in subscribers in Sudan amidst the
ongoing conflict. Active data subscribers were up by 7.8% (to 149.2 million), supporting increased
traffic and data revenue growth.
MoMo active users increased by 6.2% to 65.5 million (up 8.1% to 62.2 million, excluding OTC) as
advanced services continued their strong growth trajectory with a 63.3%* YoY growth relative to basic
services (up 16.9%* YoY). Rwanda, Uganda, and Nigeria were the main contributors to the 40.1%
increase of active merchants to 2.2 million in Q1. Transaction volume and value increased by 18.3%
and 11.2%* respectively, supporting the 25.0%* YoY growth achieved in service revenue.
Overall Group EBITDA increased by 3.9%*. The EBITDA margin declined by 2.5pp* to 38.1%* (Q1 2023:
40.6%*), impacted by upward pressure on costs due to inflation and forex depreciation mainly in
Nigeria, network resilience costs and electricity tariff escalations in MTN SA and the impact on
operations from the conflict in Sudan. Through the execution of our expense efficiency programme,
we realised efficiencies of R430 million in Q1.
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Balance sheet and liquidity positions
The Group net-debt-to-EBITDA ratio of 0.5x, as at 31 March 2024 (31 December 2023: 0.4x), remained
well within our loan covenant limit of 2.5x. Our net interest cover of 5.6x, was also within covenant
thresholds. Holding company (Holdco) leverage, at 1.7x (31 December 2023: 1.4x), was impacted by
foreign exchange movements and lower upstreaming from operations.
We upstreamed cash totalling R718 million from our operating companies (Opcos) in, which is a
seasonally softer quarter. Despite the headwinds, we continue to maintain a healthy liquidity position,
with headroom of R39.1 billion as at 31 March 2024.
Outlook and priorities
Our trading environment is anticipated to remain challenging in the near-term, with inflation remaining
elevated in some of our key markets, local currencies under pressure and the civil war in Sudan expected
to continue. The medium to longer-term structural growth opportunities for data adoption and financial
inclusion remain strong and as such, we will continue to be guided by our capital allocation framework,
manage near-term risks and remain focused on executing on our strategic priorities to deliver on our
medium-term guidance.
MTN SA will continue to execute on its priorities, including execution of device initiatives within the
trade and price-ups in prepaid and fixed-wireless access (FWA), to drive the recovery in its service
revenue and EBITDA margin towards medium-term guidance ranges by the end of Q4 2024.
MTN Nigeria is focused on maintaining its commercial momentum, accelerating service revenue
growth, unlocking operational efficiencies, and strengthening the balance sheet to improve the
profitability of the business. Further detail on this on page 4, below.
MTN Ghana will continue to focus on achieving operational excellence, which will help safeguard its
margins and drive sustained bottom-line growth in the medium to long term.
In our platforms, we will leverage partnerships to accelerate ecosystem growth and ramp up
commercial monetisation. We will also continue the work to bring in further minority investments into
our platforms. The commercial initiatives with Mastercard will ramp up in Q2 2024, with sequential
launches across markets through the remainder of the year.
We will continue to explore further localisations in key markets of Uganda and Ghana over the next few
quarters, as we look to meet regulatory requirements in those markets.
We will continue to drive the efficiencies in our business to maintain our balance sheet flexibility and
drive return accretion. In particular, we are working to accelerate expense efficiencies, in terms of which
we target R7-8 billion over the next three years. We also remain focused on cash upstreaming from our
Opcos and anticipate an improving trend in cash received from our markets in coming quarters. This
will support eforts to return Holdco leverage back to within the 1.5x guidance over the medium-term.
We revise down our anticipated capex (ex-leases) deployment for 2024 to R28-33 billion, largely due to
a reduction in expected spend by MTN Nigeria. We remain focused on our strategy execution to deliver
on our medium-term guidance".
3
Any forward-looking financial information disclosed in this quarterly update has not been reviewed or audited or otherwise reported on by
our external auditor.
Certain information presented in this quarterly update constitutes pro forma financial information and constant currency information. This
pro forma financial information and constant currency information has not been audited or reviewed or otherwise reported on by MTN's
external auditor. The responsibility for preparing and presenting the pro forma financial information and constant currency information for
the completeness and accuracy of the pro forma financial information and constant currency information is that of the directors of MTN. This
is presented for illustrative purposes only. Because of its nature, the pro forma financial information and constant currency financial
information may not fairly present MTN's financial position, changes in equity, and results of operations or cash flows.
Constant currency information has been presented to remove the impact of movement in currency rates on the Group's results and has been
calculated by translating the prior financial reporting period's results at the current period's average rates. The measurement has been
performed for each of the Group's currencies, materially being that of the US dollar and Nigerian naira. The constant currency growth
percentage has been calculated based on the prior period constant currency results compared to the current year results. In addition, in
respect of MTN Irancell, MTN Sudan and MTN South Sudan the constant currency information has been prepared excluding the impact of
hyperinflation. The economies of Sudan, South Sudan and Iran were assessed to be hyperinflationary for the period under review and
hyperinflation accounting was applied.
The Group's quarterly update is presented in line with the Group's operational structure. The Group's underlying operations are clustered as
follows: South Africa (SA), Nigeria, the Southern and East Africa (SEA) region, the West and Central Africa (WECA) region and the Middle East
and North Africa (MENA) region and their respective underlying operations.
The SEA region includes Uganda, Zambia, Rwanda, South Sudan, Botswana (joint venture-equity accounted), eSwatini (joint venture-equity
accounted) and Business Group. The WECA region includes Ghana, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Benin, Congo-Brazzaville, Liberia, Guinea
Conakry and Guinea Bissau. The MENA region includes Iran (joint venture-equity accounted), Sudan and Afghanistan.
Although Iran, Botswana and eSwatini form part of their respective regions geographically and operationally, they are excluded from their
respective regional results because they are equity accounted for by the Group.
Outcomes of MTN Nigeria's Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM)
MTN Nigeria's EGM was convened on 30 April 2024 in order to articulate the management team's
plans to address the negative net asset position as reported in the audited financial statements for
the period ending 31 December 2023.
The MTN Nigeria Board approved the implementation of initiatives geared towards safeguarding the
business fundamentals and prospects. These initiatives include: (i) pursuing regulated tariff increases
through engagements with authorities; (ii) driving margin recovery through accelerated top-line
growth, with a focus on executing on the expense efficiency programme; (iii) optimising capex
deployment targeting capex intensity in the upper single digits; (iv) reducing US$ exposure with a focus
on MTN Nigeria's outstanding letters of credit (LC) obligations; and (v) exploring strategic options to
manage its tower lease obligations.
The full notice, along with more detail on the abovementioned initiatives, can be viewed at:
htps://www.mtn.ng/investors/announcements/
Operational review
Listed Opcos' published Q1 2024 results
The published Q1 results of our listed Opcos can be viewed at:
• MTN Nigeria:
htps://www.mtn.ng/investors/financial-reporting/?report_cat=quarterly-results
• MTN Ghana:
htps://mtn.com.gh/investors/
• MTN Uganda:
4
htps://www.mtn.co.ug/investors/financial-reports/
• MTN Rwanda:
htps://www.mtn.co.rw/investors-financial-reporting/
MTN South Africa
MTN SA's Q1 performance was resilient in a challenging operating environment. Economic growth
remained muted, with the IMF having recently downgraded its 2024 growth outlook to below 1%.
More encouragingly, inflation showed signs of abating, with Q1 averaging 5.4% (Q1 2023: 7.0%), within
the top-end of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) target range of 3-6%.
There was also an improvement in the frequency and severity of power outages, with a total of 83
days of loadshedding experienced during the quarter, compared to 90 days in Q1 2023. MTN SA's
investment in resilience has yielded excellent results, notably the significant improvement in network
availability.
In this context, MTN SA achieved solid service revenue growth of 3.0%, with all key business segments
showing positive momentum from 2023. In a tough and competitive trading environment, MTN SA
grew the total number of subscribers by 3.3% YoY, to 37.1 million.
With the significant improvement in network availability compared to Q1 2023 and a greater bundle
consumption of voice compared to data, the decline in total outgoing voice revenue improved to -
5.0%; compared to declines of 16.0% in Q1 2023 and 9.8% in Q4 2023.
The development of data revenue was impacted by the initiatives implemented to recover legacy
Xtratime data advance balances through data bundles. This partly resulted in relatively muted data
revenue growth of 2.5%. Data continued to be a key growth driver for the business and showed strong
underlying momentum as active data users grew by 6.1% to 20.4 million YoY.
Advancing the residential strategy remains a key focus area for the business, underpinned by FWA and
FTTH technologies. In addition to new Super Data offers in prepaid, MTN SA also launched new FTTH
products in Q1. In addition, the business refreshed its postpaid FWA Home Internet and Mobile
Internet propositions, with good uptake from customers. This underpinned growth of 34.8%, to 895k
YoY, in the number of residential subscribers – including customers making use of MiFi dongles to
access connectivity.
These initiatives supported overall data traffic growth of 41.7%. FWA Home Internet – which was
priced aggressively in the market to accelerate penetration – was the main driver of this traffic growth.
MTN SA's mobile data traffic growth (excluding FWA) was 26.5%.
An active prepaid subscriber consumed an average of 3.3GB per month (up 22.4%); an active postpaid
subscriber consumed an average of 21.9GB per month (up 55.0%). Within this, a postpaid mobile user
increased data consumption by 22.7% to 12.9GB per month. MTN SA is revising its above-the-line and
CVM data bundle portfolios (including FWA) in Q2, to improve effective pricing.
Service revenue in consumer prepaid was 1.1% higher, reflecting the ongoing financial pressure on
consumers and the impacts of macroeconomic factors on disposable income. Within the overall mix,
XtraTime service fees showed strong growth at 52.2%, impacting somewhat on data growth although
voice revenue has showed better resilience given the improved network availability and quality.
5
We are encouraged by the growth in consumer postpaid with the strong operational performance
during Q1 impacted by a base clean-up during Q4 2023 and once-off releases in the prior reporting
period. Postpaid service revenue increased by 2.9% during the period.
The enterprise business delivered robust double-digit service revenue growth of 10.1% underpinned
by growth in data, Bulk SMS and new contracts acquired in ICT.
The wholesale business held steady, with service revenue up by 0.8% (including incoming voice)
supported by ongoing revenues from MTN SA's national roaming customers.
The fintech business continued to progress, with total revenue up by 57.9% (including Xtratime),
underpinned by strong MoMo revenue growth from a low base. This was driven by the ongoing
expansion of the product portfolio, including lending services (personal and micro loans) and
international remittance.
EBITDA grew by 3.6% in the quarter, representing an expansion of 0.3pp in EBITDA margin to 36.5%,
including the once-off gain on disposals. Excluding the effect of these once-off gains, EBITDA margin
was 34.9% (1.2pp lower). As noted in the FY 2023 Group results release, MTN SA is front-loading the
investment into the device market to support its revenue acceleration initiatives. This cost investment
had a negative impact on EBITDA margin in Q1, although this is anticipated to abate in H2.
Network resilience plan completed, unwind of power as a service (PaaS) agreement
MTN SA has successfully completed the roll out of its network resilience plan. This deployment
incorporated the upgrade of rectifiers, additional battery capacity (to allow for a minimum of six hours
of battery autonomy) and a mix of static and mobile generators. MTN SA is also piloting solar solutions
on a limited number of sites. In addition, where there are higher risks of theft or vandalism, additional
security solutions are deployed, and active infrastructure changes implemented.
MTN SA and IHS have reached a mutual agreement to unwind the PaaS agreement entered into in
June 2022. The parties agreed – given the high levels of uncertainty around loadshedding in South
Africa, which required a significant acceleration in capital investment on resilience – that it would be
beneficial to both parties for MTN SA to take back the operations of backup power on its portfolio of
sites.
The unwind is expected to be largely cost neutral for MTN SA and the impact has been considered in
terms of the business' medium-term guidance. The tower lease agreement entered into with IHS
remains in place, and IHS will continue to own and operate the tower infrastructure in South Africa.
MTN SA outlook
The remainder of the year is anticipated to continue to present macro headwinds to the MTN SA's
service revenue and cost development, driven by elevated inflation and interest rates, as well as the
impacts from the ongoing geopolitical volatility.
Several initiatives are underway and are being executed to navigate the prevailing conditions. These
include price-ups in prepaid plans and other portfolios, as well as revision of data bundle portfolios
(including FWA) in Q2, to improve effective pricing. The investment into the device market to support
6
MTN SA's revenue acceleration initiatives is anticipated to continue in Q2, before abating in H2. This
will continue to weigh on EBITDA margin in the short-term.
Overall, these interventions – supported by improved network availability and expense efficiencies –
are expected to underpin the recovery in MTN SA's top-line growth and EBITDA margin towards the
medium-term guidance by Q4 2024.
MTN Nigeria
MTN Nigeria released its Q1 results – published on 29 April 2024 – against the backdrop of rising
inflation, ongoing naira volatility and the impact of the industry-wide directive of the Nigerian
Communications Commission (NCC) for a full barring of subscriber lines not linked to their National
Identity Number (NIN).
Service revenue grew by 31.8%*, ahead of average inflation in Q1, helped by some favourable base
effects, but underscored the continued demand for data, voice and digital services.
Voice revenue grew by 14.3%*, supported by increased usage by customers. This growth was
attributable to the successful implementation of CVM initiatives and revamped voice propositions.
Data revenue rose by 53.5%* due to improved data bundle offerings, wider network coverage and
enhanced capacity. MTN Nigeria acquired additional 2,600MHz spectrum in September 2023, which
enabled more efficient deployment of additional capacity to the network. Data traffic grew by 40.6%
YoY, underpinned by data usage (GB per user) growth of 28.5% to 10.1GB.
Fintech revenue grew marginally by 0.3%*, impacted by the NIN requirement for Know Your Customer
(KYC) validation, impacting approximately a million active wallets. Active MoMo PSB wallets declined
by 566k to 4.8 million as a result of the KYC requirement and delays in Central Bank of Nigeria
approvals for some commercial initiatives.
Growing adoption and increased activity within the fintech ecosystem drove a 25.6% YoY rise in
transaction volume. MTN Nigeria ended the quarter with 232.3k MoMo agents, including OTC agents,
reflecting a decline of 94.4k in the period. Excluding OTC transaction, there were 189.6k active MoMo
agents. MTN Nigeria added over 75k merchants in Q1, bringing the total number of merchants within
the ecosystem to over 400k.
The focus of MoMo PSB remains on driving consumer education and awareness, leveraging the
distribution network and expanding the bouquet of offering from basic to advanced services to boost
adoption and monetization.
Digital revenue grew by 88.9%*, as the increased adoption of digital products continued to grow with
user journey optimisation, revamped digital offers and the growth in the active base by 43.0%, to 16.7
million. ayoba recorded a 27.3% YoY growth to 8.5 million active monthly users.
Service revenue from the enterprise business rose by 52.7%*, due to increased uptake of services,
particularly mobile and fixed connectivity services.
MTN Nigeria recorded EBITDA decline of 1.9%*, impacted by the combined effects of naira
depreciation, higher consumer price index (CPI) and energy costs on lease rental, as well as the
introduction of the VAT on tower leases resulted in higher operating expenses. The EBITDA margin
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declined to 39.5%*. Adjusting for the effects of naira depreciation on margin (negative 11.6pp), the
EBITDA margin for Q1 would have been 51.0%*.
Southern and East Africa (SEA) region
The SEA region delivered service revenue growth of 17.8%* YoY, supported by sustained growth in
voice (up 10.2%*), data (up 26.1%*) and fintech (up 24.7%*). Total subscribers increased by 7.3% to
39.2 million with active data subscribers increasing by 20.0% to 15.3 million and MoMo active users
increasing by 7.3% to 21.5 million. The blended inflation in SEA averaged 6.3% in Q1, compared to
13.3% in Q1 2023.
MTN Uganda published its Q1 results on 9 May 2024 and reported service revenue growth of 19.4%*
YoY, underpinned by strong momentum in voice (up 15.6%*), data (up 22.5%*) and fintech (up
23.6%*). The subscriber base grew by 12.0% to 19.9 million.
Voice revenue benefited from increased adoption of personalised propositions targeting both on-net
and off-net customers. Data revenue was supported by a 27.6% growth in active subscribers, further
driven by the acceleration of megabytes per user by 31.6% due to improved network performance
post the acquired spectrum deployment. Data traffic increased by 68.0%.
Fintech revenue growth was driven by a strong recovery in the loans and savings portfolio within
advanced services, as well as resilience in revenue from basic services supported by MoMo float
enhancement to our agents.
MTN Uganda's EBITDA increased by 25.0%*, underpinned by strong top-line growth and continued
cost optimisation. The EBITDA margin held steady at 52.0%*.
MTN Rwanda, which published Q1 results on 7 May 2024, reported service revenue growth of 2.2%*
impacted by the cut in mobile termination rates (MTR), which negatively impacted voice (down
23.4%*) and data (flat). Fintech revenue increased by 26.4%* YoY. Excluding the impact of MTR,
service revenue growth would have been 8.0%*. The subscriber base grew by 7.0% YoY growth in the
subscriber base to 7.4 million.
Voice was severely impacted by the aforementioned introduction of zero MTR, while data pricing also
came under pressure as MTN Rwanda defended its market position amidst increased competitive
intensity. Active data subscribers grew by 13.6% to 2.5 million subscribers, supported by initiatives to
drive smartphone penetration, which reached 29.2% (Q1 2023: 23.5%).
The fintech performance was supported by the 16.8% YoY growth in MoMo active users, as well as
the robust growth of advanced services revenue (up 52.9%*).
MTN Rwanda's EBITDA declined by 10.6%* with an EBITDA margin of 40.0%* (down 5.8pp* YoY). This
resulted largely from the zero MTR policy and aggressive pricing in the market. Excluding the effects
of the regulatory MTR cuts, EBITDA would have been up by 2.5%* YoY.
Overall, the SEA portfolio reported a flat blended EBITDA margin of 45.6%* (Q1 2023: 45.5*%).
8
West and Central Africa (WECA) region
The WECA region delivered service revenue growth of 11.6%* largely driven by data (up 26.2%*) and
fintech (up 23.4%*). Total subscribers increased by 0.3% to 72.3 million with active data subscribers
increasing by 10.8% to 36.7 million and active MoMo users increasing by 3.4% to 34.0 million.
The average blended inflation for the region abated to 11.8% over the period, from 19.8% in 2023, as
Ghana subsided from an elevated level. Excluding Ghana, WECA inflation was 4.1% for the period
(Q1 2023: 5.2%).
MTN Ghana, which published Q1 results on 30 April 2024, delivered service revenue growth of 32.4%*
supported by data (up 59.9%*) and fintech (up 31.2%*). Mobile subscribers increased by 1.2%,
impacted by the SIM re-registration exercise completed in 2023. This brought the total number of
subscribers to 27.8 million by the end of Q1.
Voice revenue growth was broadly flat with 0.8%* YoY growth, impacted by pending regulatory
approvals in support of our ongoing price optimisation initiatives. The growth in data was supported
by the implementation of pricing initiatives in Q4 2023 and a 6.0% YTD (since December 2023) increase
in megabytes consumed per active user per month, which consequently led to a 16.3% YoY growth in
data traffic over the period.
MTN Ghana's fintech performance was underpinned by growth in the active user base and driven by
growth in cashout services, P2P and advanced services.
EBITDA increased by 31.6%* YoY, with a relatively stable margin of 55.9%* (0.4pp lower) in the context
of high inflation, which impacted fuel, rent and utilities.
MTN Côte d'Ivoire's service revenue decreased by 2.0%*, largely underpinned by 7.6%* growth in
data revenue. Performance was impacted by the regulation allowing the extension of unused data to
roll-over to the next month, as well as the large-scale undersea fibre cuts in March 2024. Fintech
revenue (up 1.7%*) was affected by lower MAU, which declined by 27.5% YoY. Initiatives are in place
to address customer churn through an improved agent, merchant and customer app, with enhanced
security.
The regulatory environment in Cote d'Ivoire remains challenging and engagements with the relevant
authorities are ongoing to address the impact of increased price-based competition in the sector.
The EBITDA margin increased by 7.3pp* to 36.2%*, supported by strong execution on the expense
efficiency programme.
MTN Cameroon reported solid service revenue growth of 15.3%* notwithstanding socio-economic
headwinds, rising inflation and disruptions caused by the undersea fibre cuts. CVM initiatives
continued to drive growth in voice (up 3.8%*), data (up 21.4%*) and fintech (up 37.0%*) revenue,
despite increased pricing competition in the market. The EBITDA margin for MTN Cameroon improved
by 6.3pp* to 40.3%* due to strong topline growth and expense efficiency.
WECA reported a 21.1%* increase in EBITDA and a blended EBITDA margin of 41.1%*, up by 3.2pp*.
Excluding MTN Ghana, the WECA markets reported a 2.8pp* increase in the blended EBITDA margin
to 32.0%*.
9
Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region
The MENA region's service revenue declined by 54.6%* YoY due to the ongoing conflict in Sudan and
the disposal of the MTN Afghanistan in February 2024. The total number of subscribers
(excluding Irancell) decreased by 38.8% to 5.7 million, with active data subscribers decreasing by
54.2% to 1.6 million.
MTN Sudan service revenue declined by 83.2%* YoY, as the situation in-country remained volatile.
EBITDA recorded a loss of R179 million, impacted by the ongoing civil war, which severely hampered
network availability, as well as inflationary pressure on costs. These effects were mitigated through
revenue recovery initiatives underpinned by restoration of the network where it was safe to do so, as
well as expense efficiencies.
MENA reported a blended EBITDA margin of 3.8%*, down from 42.7%*,
reflecting the impact of lower service revenue and from Sudan and disposal of MTN Afghanistan.
MTN Irancell, our minority-held and equity-accounted JV, delivered service revenue growth of
51.8%*, supported by increased data usage. The EBITDA margin remained flat at 41.9%* as costs were
impacted by high inflation and currency devaluation.
The Iran Internet Group continued its strong performance in Q1 to March 2024. Ride-hailing app
Snapp remained the market leader, ranking among the top ride-hailing apps globally and reaching 5
million daily rides compared to 4.1 million rides in 2023. Last-mile delivery service Snappbox also
remained the market leader with revenue up 92% YoY and daily orders increasing by 27% YoY to
almost 420k. Food delivery app Snappfood grew revenue by 108% YoY and remained the largest player
in the country.
Scaling our platforms
Building the largest and most valuable fintech platform
Fintech revenue increased by 25.0%* YoY driven by Ghana, Cameroon and South Africa. Advanced
services (up 63.3%*) continue to accelerate with strong growth relative to basic services (up 16.9%*).
The contribution of advanced services to total MoMo revenue rose to 30.1% (up 6.6pp).
Active MoMo users increased by 6.2% YoY to 65.5 million; excluding OTC customers in Nigeria, we
closed at 62.2 million representing a growth of 8.1% YoY; largely driven by Ghana, Uganda, South
Africa, Rwanda and Benin.
Active agents were 9.3% lower to 1.2 million, as we focused our distribution efforts to prioritise the
recruitment and retention of higher-quality agents. Active merchants – a key driver of our advanced
services strategy – grew by 40.1% to 2.2 million; with Rwanda and Uganda being key drivers of
merchant additions in Q1.
The development of our overall fintech ecosystem continued to exhibit strength and resilience with a
18.3% increase in transaction volumes to 4.8 billion transactions, and transaction value up by 11.2%*
to US$72.3 billion.
10
Key fintech verticals
Our payments and e-commerce ecosystem performed strongly and grew revenue growth by 44.6%*
YoY, supported by the growth in merchants and unique-payer activity. The total value of MoMo
merchant payments rose by 32.6%* YoY to US$4.7 billion.
In BankTech, we facilitated a total loan disbursement value of US$371.7 million, representing YoY
growth of 17.4%*. The growth was underpinned by the maturity of partner-led lending products and
the launch of new products in our key markets. Uganda and Ghana were the key drivers of the
performance driving growth in both total loan disbursement and unique users utilising the service.
The total value of remittances sustained its strong momentum and increased by 63.5%* YoY to
US$883 million in Q1. This was driven by growth in the number of active corridors as well as improved
customer experience and focused digital marketing activities. Outbound corridors grew by 237% to
155 and inbound corridors rose by 75% to 583.
Our InsurTech platform aYo, within our strategic alliance, reported growth in registered aYo policies
by 12.4% to 23.9 million. Positive performance has been contributed by the SA device insurance book
and stronger focus on high priority markets.
Ayoba
In Q1, our super app platform ayoba grew its user base by 33.7% YoY to 35 million MAU. This growth
is attributed to the higher adoption and retention rates achieved, fuelled by an enhanced user
experience in the communication suite. We also enhanced our content offering that includes music,
channels and games. Nigeria, our largest market, reached 8.5 million MAU, growing users by 27.3%
YoY.
In the quarter, ayoba's focus was on launching new B2B services and continuing to ramp up
commercial monetisation through display ads, premium sales and payments.
Our MAU base outside the traditional MTN GSM footprint grew to 11.3 million, a 78.1% YoY growth
highlighting platform's ability to scale as an OTT.
Bayobab (MTN GlobalConnect)
Bayobab is a digital ecosystem enabler, providing wholesale telecom services through its
Communication Platorms and Fibre networks. Q1 presented significant challenges, including the
conflict in Sudan, local currency volatility and the well-documented cable cuts, which resulted in
downtime for eight significant subsea cables connecting the African continent. The impacts from these
cuts included major simultaneous outages on the west coast of Africa of four main cables, which we
successfully restored within a few days. This was achieved using its existing redundant capacity links,
as well as the newly installed Equiano cable.
In this context, Bayobab delivered a resilient financial performance with consolidated total revenue
of US$138.2 million (down 3.9%, YoY), of which external revenue was US$79.0 million (down 6.7%).
The Communication Platforms' external revenue declined YoY by 6.5%, impacted by the Sudan conflict
and naira devaluation (which affected traffic and pricing). The Fibre segment's external revenue was
8.2% lower impacted by cable cuts and as some contracts came to completion.
11
During the quarter, Bayobab secured new fixed connectivity infrastructure deals amounting to
US$5.3 million, which supported the performance. In February 2024, we also landed the 2Africa cable
– stretching 45 000km across Lagos, Nigeria – which marked the fourth successful 2Africa landing.
Outlook
We anticipate that the prevailing geopolitical and macroeconomic conditions will continue to impact
our business in the near term. However, the underlying operational momentum in our business
remains strong, supported by our financial resilience and balance sheet flexibility. We expect to deploy
capex of R28-33 billion in FY 2024 (revised down from R35-39 billion, previously) and maintain our
medium-term guidance.
We are implementing interventions to safeguard the business and support our medium-term growth
outlook. MTN SA is doing work to accelerate growth and improve profitability, underpinned by its
resilience plan, which has significantly improved network availability.
MTN Nigeria is accelerating its commercial initiatives, including pricing optimization and engaging with
authorities to secure voice and data tariff increases. Along with the potential positive outcomes from
ongoing renegotiations of towerco agreements, these activities are geared to restoring MTN Nigeria's
profitability and resolving its negative equity position.
In the Markets portfolio, growth is being underpinned by strong performances in key markets like
MTN Ghana and MTN Uganda; while the turnaround work is ongoing in other markets impacted by
increased competitive intensity and regulatory interventions.
In our platforms, we will continue to scale the fintech ecosystem and leverage partnerships, including
with Mastercard, to accelerate growth and commercial monetization. We are also prioritizing the
accelerated monetization of ayoba, as we continue to scale digital advertising.
We will continue to explore further localisations in key markets of Uganda and Ghana over the next
few quarters, as we look to meet regulatory requirements in those markets.
Our financial resilience provides us with the flexibility to weather the short-term macro headwinds on
our business, as well as the foundation to continue executing our Ambition 2025 strategy. To sustain
this, we target R7-8 billion in expense efficiencies over the next three years and will maintain our
focused discipline on our capital allocation framework. We will maintain our focus on capturing the
growth opportunities in our markets and unlocking value for stakeholders.
Q1 2024 trading update teleconference
MTN will be hosting a teleconference today, Tuesday, 14 May 2024, where we will be unpacking the
Group's trading update for the quarter ended 31 March 2024. To participate, please register here:
Registration (corpcam.com)
The accompanying data sheets can be found at https://www.mtn.com/financial-
results/?report_cat=quarterly-results
14 May 2024
Fairland
Lead sponsor
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Tamela Holdings Proprietary Limited
Joint sponsor
J.P. Morgan Equities (SA) Proprietary Limited
Abbreviations:
Business Group: Consist of internet service providers in Namibia, Kenya and Botswana
CPI: Consumer Price Index
CVM: Customer value management
GB: Gigabyte
GSM: Global System for Mobile communication
FWA: Fixed wireless access
FTTH: Fibre to the Home
Holdco leverage: Holdco net debt (including MTN GC)/SA EBITDA + cash upstreaming
JV: Joint Venture
MB: Megabyte
NPS: Net Promoter Score
OTC: Over the counter
OTT: Over the top
P2P: Peer-to-peer
PB: Petabyte
PSB: Payment service bank
SIM: Subscriber Identity/Identification Module
Towerco: Tower companies
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Date: 14-05-2024 07:05:00
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