MTN subscriber base grows 32% to 20.5mln
The diluted earnings per share rose 29% to 230.1 cents, profit for the period under review increased 31% to 4.462 billion rand while revenue jumped 25.2% to 17.2 billion rand.
The company, with operations in nine sub-Saharan African countries, reported a 32% rise in subscribers to 20.568 from the previous 15.641 million users.
In South Africa, MTN’s customer base grew 12% to 8.9 million while in Nigeria – Africa’s most populous country with 137 million inhabitants – the company’s base steamed ahead 38% to 7.667 million from 5.5 million. In Nigeria, MTN is competing with Telkom (TKG) and others for a controlling stake in the fixed-line operator Nitel bundled with mobile arm M-Tel.
Although the Nigerian growth and recent acquisitions have helped MTN become Africa’s largest mobile operator, MTN is ranked second in South Africa behind Telkom-held Vodacom which has 15.8 million subscribers in the country.
Vodacom has a total of 19.1 million subscribers across its five markets, including Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Elsewhere on the continent, MTN’s base grew 23% to 1.1 million in Cameroon where it competes with Orange of France and 14% to 0.9 million in its fourth largest market, Uganda, where it also runs the second fixed-line network.
During the period under review, MTN increased its number of markets to eight with acquisitions in the Ivory Coast which has 0.9 million users and Zambia with 91,000 subscribers.
Subsequent to September 30, the operator entered the Botswana market and looks set to deploy in Iran once the licence has been issued while it awaits a decision on Tunisia which could see its footprint ont he African continent rising to 11.
Average revenue per users (ARPU) fell 9% to 168 rand per month in South Africa. Nigeria and Cameroon also experienced a decline in ARPUs.
I-Net Bridge
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