MTN tops 23m subscribers

Group revenue was R27bn for the nine months, compared with R28,9bn for the 2004 financial year.

MTN said earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) came in at R11,2bn for the nine-month period, compared with R12bn for the year to end-March 2005.

The company maintained its respected Ebitda margin, which was 41,3% for the period (41,4% for the year to March 2004).

With the acquisition of operations in Côte d’Ivoire, Zambia Botswana, Congo Brazzaville and the rollout of a network in Iran, MTN now has presence in 11 countries.

Subscriber growth from current operations – South Africa, Nigeria, Cameroon, Uganda, Rwanda and Swaziland – came in at 36%.

South Africa remains the biggest operation by far, bringing in 57% of revenue from a subscriber base of 10,2m.

The Nigerian operation is the next largest, reporting a near doubling of subscribers to 8,4m from 4,4m over the nine-month period.

At the results presentation on Thursday morning, CEO Phuthuma Nhleko revealed MTN’s aggressive expansion strategy in Iran, where MTN is part of a consortium which was granted the country’s second cellular licence in November last year.

MTN has an obligation to rollout infrastructure that will cover half of Iran’s population of 69m, which Nhleko says is “onerous, but should manage” as it has divided the country into six regions, and will be contracting three suppliers to roll out the infrastructure in the regions.

Nhleko says IranCell should launch in August, and hopes to add 1,5m subscribers by December 2006.

Iran has a relatively low penetration rate of 11%, and limited competition in the market. More than 60% of the population is urbanised, with between 12m and 15m residing in the capital, Tehran. “This will allow for high early network turnout,” said Nhleko.