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MTN Nigeria reported a 2.5 percent sequential increase in its subscriber base to 60.5 million at the end of September. In its quarterly update, MTN said its subscriber base was negatively impacted by the exclusion from its active base of 3.1 million subscribers relating to a change in subscriber accounting rules. On the upside, subscriber numbers were supported mainly by reconnecting through proactive engagement following the disconnection. The operator said it continues to engage with regulatory authorities to improve the approval process for promotions, products and services following the reinstatement of regulatory services to MTN.
The operator said the revenue decline in Nigeria slowed to 1.2 percent in the quarter. Constant currency data revenue increased by 6.7 percent and contributed 20.4 percent to total revenue in the third quarter. The slower growth was largely the result of a weaker macro-economic environment negatively impacting consumers, a decline in the effective data tariff because of competition and regulatory requirements impacting out-of-bundle billing. The data traffic increased by 43.8 percent year-on-year, benefiting from an improved data network and increased smartphone penetration. The number of smartphones on the network increased by 59.4 percent to 19.2 million year-on-year. Local currency ARPU decreased by 1.4 percent from the previous quarter.
About allegations from the Nigerian Senate that USD 13.97 billion was repatriated illegally by MTN Nigeria through its bankers, the operator said it is cooperating with the investigation with a view to resolving the matter as quickly as possible. In the meantime, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has instructed the banks to suspend any remittance of dividends until further notice.
MTN said it is committed to paying the NGN 330 billion fine related to the late disconnection of improperly registered Sims and as such has not declared a dividend since April 2015. The company added that it has no intention of making any dividend payments over the next six months.
Other West Africa operations at MTN grew by 2.3 percent in Q3 to 47.6 million subscribers, driven by growth at MTN Ghana and MTN Ivory Coast. MTN Ghana delivered a strong performance and grew its subscriber base by 2.7 percent to 18.0 million. Constant currency data revenue increased by 72.8 percent and contributed 41.7 percent to total revenue. This was helped by strong growth in digital and mobile financial services as well as the launch of LTE services. Local currency ARPU increased by 3.7 percent from the previous quarter. The number of MTN Mobile Money customers increased by 10.7 percent sequentially to 7.8 million.
MTN lowered its outlook for net subscriber additions in Nigeria this year to just 120,000, from a forecast of 800,000 in June. However, the company said it expects to return to revenue growth in Nigeria in Q4. Overall West and Central Africa is expected to contribute 3.750 million net additions this year, led by 2 million in Ghana and 900,000 in Cameroon.
