MTN Group on Thursday reported an 18.5% fall in service revenue in the third quarter ended 30 September 2024, hit by the devaluation of the Nigerian naira and operational challenges in Sudan.
MTN, with 288 million subscribers in 17 markets across Africa, said its group service revenue fell to R127.4-billion from R156.3-billion in the same quarter last year.
The group reported a 48.7% plunge in revenue from MTN Nigeria due to the devaluation of the currency but noted that “the naira was less volatile on a sequential basis in Q3 than in preceding quarters”.
Its biggest contributor, MTN South Africa, grew marginally by 3.3% and Uganda followed suit with 5% growth, helped by a firmer Ugandan shilling compared to last year.
The company said its subscriber base grew by 1.6% to 288 million, affected by “subscriber registration regulations in Nigeria and a decline in users in Sudan, where millions of people have been displaced by conflict”.
MTN estimates capital expenditure at between R28-billion and R33-billion for the full year and looks to spend more in Nigeria, encouraged by stronger demand in the country despite the regulatory challenges.
Read: MTN board rallies around CEO Ralph Mupita
MTN Group shares were down 1.3% at 9.27am in Johannesburg. — Sfundo Parakozov, (c) 2024 Reuters
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