MTN Nigeria Bounces Back with N414.9 Billion Profit in Q1 2025

In the first half of 2025, MTN Nigeria reported a net profit of N414.9 billion, a strong and dramatic turnaround from the N519.1 billion loss in the same period the previous year.

According to Karl Toriola, CEO of MTN Nigeria, “the macroeconomic conditions in Nigeria showed notable improvements (six months to June 30), including a relatively stable naira, improved foreign exchange (forex) liquidity, and easing inflationary pressures.”

This comes after recent economic volatility that caused many South African businesses to lose money, especially from their activities in Nigeria.

Building on the first quarter’s momentum, we achieved robust service revenue growth, up 56% year over year. Proactive customer value management, robust demand, and pricing adjustments—primarily in the second quarter—were the key drivers of this. We increased network expenditure to increase capacity in order to reinforce this,” he stated at Thursday’s interim results announcement.

He claimed that in order to hasten the company’s return to profitability, efficiency initiatives were still being carried out.

The group is “firmly on track to restore our balance sheet to a positive net asset position by the end of the third quarter,” he added, adding that the impressive first-half performance led to an improvement of the guidance for the 2025 full financial year.

An industry directive was put into effect on the regulatory front, limiting third-party agents to one SIM registration per client, with the exception of agencies designated as strategic partners. The quality of SIM registrations would be improved, which would benefit the industry’s overall growth even though it would momentarily decrease the growth rate of gross connections.

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Although the new SIM registration rules that were implemented in the first quarter had an influence, the number of mobile users increased to 84.7 million, with a net addition of 3.8 million in the first half.

The number of active data users increased by 3.3 million to about 51 million, contributing to a 41.2% annual rise in data traffic.

Voice and data package prices were gradually changed, with the second quarter mainly benefiting from the changes.

He stated, “It is pleasing to see that the demand for our services remained robust, supporting strong service revenue growth during the period.”

In July 2025, the first phase of the $240 million Dabengwa Tier 3 Data Center was opened. The multi-phase data center project will grow to be the biggest in West Africa.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) approved the group’s application for a national roaming contract with Emerging Markets Telecommunications Services (9Mobile).

In support of the NCC’s goal of expanding market inclusion and creating a fully connected Nigeria. We have started the process of onboarding mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) to our network in this regard,” Tariola stated.

In the second quarter, almost 562 000 new users joined the fintech strategy, increasing the total number of active wallets to 2.7 million.

“By using our partner network, we have drawn in more high-value users, which has contributed to steady growth in customer deposits, which increased by almost five times by June 2025, compared to December 2024,” he stated.

Relative naira stability, the updated IHS tower lease arrangement, and advancements in efficiency projects all helped to lessen cost pressure. EBITDA, which stands for earnings before interest tax, depreciation, and amortization, increased by 119.5% to N1.2 trillion. At the end of December 2024, retained earnings were negative N607.5 billion; however, they improved to negative N192.9 billion.

“With the help of recent price adjustments, network investments, and a more stable macroeconomic and regulatory environment, we anticipate maintaining strong operational and financial growth momentum in the second half,” he stated.