LAGOS, Nigeria — MTN Nigeria Communications Plc reported a pre-tax profit of N546.421 billion for the first quarter ended March 31, 2026, a 169.64 percent surge year-on-year, driven by strong data revenue growth and disciplined cost management.
Okay News reports that the unaudited results, released on April 30, 2026, showed revenue climbed 41.62 percent to N1.498 trillion, the highest quarterly revenue since 2019. Profit after tax rose 165.93 percent to N355.501 billion.
Chief Executive Officer Karl Toriola said operational discipline helped contain costs. “Despite a challenging cost environment, strong operational discipline kept operating expenses well contained, delivering meaningful operating leverage. EBITDA increased by 68.1%, and EBITDA margin expanded by 8.7 percentage points to 55.3%, in line with our medium-term guidance of a mid-to-high 50% margin range. As a result, PBT rose by 169.6% to N546.4 billion,” Toriola said.
Data revenue grew 56.2 percent, supported by a 9.5 percent increase in active data subscribers to 55 million, a 5.5 percentage point rise in smartphone penetration to 66.2 percent, and higher usage. Average data usage per subscriber rose 12.3 percent to 14.3GB. Voice revenue increased 22.5 percent, while fintech revenue jumped 77.9 percent, with core fintech revenue up 190.6 percent excluding Xtratime.
Finance costs remained nearly flat at N143.269 billion, while the company recorded a net foreign exchange gain of N33.304 billion, compared to a loss of N5.525 billion a year earlier. Total subscribers increased 6.5 percent to 89.5 million.
Total assets grew 8.25 percent to N5.849 trillion. Capital expenditure excluding leases rose 92.8 percent to N390.3 billion to support data traffic growth. Total borrowings decreased 25 percent to N315 billion following a N154 billion repayment, moderating finance costs.
MTN Nigeria shares closed at N870 on April 30, 2026, up over 6 percent from the previous day, with year-to-date gains of 70.6 percent and a market capitalisation of N18.3 trillion.
