MTN Nigeria Communications Plc has reported a 59.4 per cent increase in pre-tax profit to ₦1.80 trillion for the nine months ended September 30, 2026, driven by strong data revenue, subscriber growth and improved operating efficiency.
The telecommunications company’s unaudited financial results showed that revenue rose by 23.6 per cent to ₦4.61 trillion, compared with ₦3.73 trillion in the corresponding period of 2025.
The stronger revenue performance translated into higher earnings, with operating profit increasing by 38.2 per cent to ₦1.99 trillion from ₦1.44 trillion, while profit after tax climbed by 55.3 per cent to ₦1.17 trillion from ₦750.19 billion.
Earnings per share also improved to ₦55.60 from ₦35.80.
For the third quarter alone, pre-tax profit rose by 39.6 per cent to ₦704.1 billion, compared with ₦504.2 billion in the same period last year.
MTN Nigeria’s data business remained the biggest contributor to its revenue expansion, reflecting rising demand for internet services and increasing data consumption among subscribers.
Data revenue grew by 35.8 per cent to ₦2.68 trillion from ₦1.98 trillion, accounting for 58.5 per cent of total service revenue.
Voice revenue increased by 11.1 per cent to ₦1.50 trillion, while digital services revenue rose by 24 per cent to ₦88.3 billion. Other service revenue, including enterprise-related services, increased by 21.3 per cent to ₦219.2 billion.
However, fintech revenue declined by 25.9 per cent to ₦97.5 billion from ₦131.6 billion, reflecting the temporary suspension of the company’s airtime and data credit service between April and June 2026.
Management said the service had since resumed under a new multi-partner model, with revenue increasing by 78.5 per cent in the third quarter compared with the preceding quarter.
The company’s mobile subscriber base expanded by 10.9 per cent to 94.7 million from 85.4 million in September 2025.
Active data users increased by 12 per cent to 57.2 million, while average monthly data consumption per active user rose by 16.2 per cent to 15.3GB.
These developments contributed to a 30.1 per cent increase in network data traffic, supported by greater smartphone adoption and demand for broadband services.
Smartphone connections on the network grew by 12.4 per cent, taking smartphone penetration to 66 per cent.
MTN also disclosed that fibre-to-the-home services accounted for approximately 13 per cent of its total data traffic, underscoring the growing contribution of home broadband to its business.
Commenting on the performance, Chief Executive Officer Karl Toriola said the company delivered a strong third quarter, reversing the temporary slowdown recorded in the second quarter.
He attributed the improvement to accelerating service revenue growth, higher customer usage, deeper data adoption and continued investment in network infrastructure.
“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,” Toriola said.
MTN Nigeria’s operating expenses increased by 8.5 per cent to ₦1.42 trillion from ₦1.31 trillion, significantly below the 23.6 per cent growth in revenue.
The slower increase in expenses helped strengthen profitability, with earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rising by 36.8 per cent to ₦2.62 trillion from ₦1.92 trillion.
Consequently, the EBITDA margin expanded by 5.5 percentage points to 56.9 per cent from 51.4 per cent.
Management attributed the improvement to its cost-efficiency programme, a stronger naira and the benefit of value-added tax input claims, which helped contain higher energy-related expenses.
Depreciation and amortisation costs, however, increased by 32.6 per cent to ₦631.9 billion, reflecting continued investment in network infrastructure.
The company also benefited from lower financing costs. Net finance costs declined by 25.3 per cent to ₦277 billion from ₦370.92 billion.
This followed a reduction in finance costs to ₦359.58 billion from ₦404.18 billion, while finance income increased to ₦82.58 billion from ₦33.26 billion.
MTN also recorded a net foreign exchange gain of ₦80.14 billion, compared with ₦55.58 billion in the corresponding period of 2025, providing additional support for pre-tax earnings.
