MTN subscribers up
MTN Group (MTN) reported that group subscribers grew 53% to 74.1 million in the six months ended June compared with 48.2 million subscribers at June 2007.
This was a 21% increase from 61.4 million at end December 2007.
Adjusted headline earnings per share rose 26% to 408.5 cents from 324.7 cents a year ago.
Revenue was up 35% to 46.1 billion rand from June 2007, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was up 29% to 19.6 billion rand from a year ago.
The group said the results were achieved against the background of increased investment in infrastructure and distribution to cater for ever increasing demand.
MTN delivered a sound performance in the six months to 30 June 2008, driven mainly by subscriber growth in increasingly competitive markets, it said.
In the six months from December 2007 subscribers in the WECA region increased by 16% to 32.5 million, in the SEA region by 9% to 21 million and the MENA region recorded a 47% increase to 20.6 million.
The growth in the MENA region over the last six months was mainly driven by a 93% increase in subscribers in Irancell to 11.6 million.
MTN consolidates only 49% of Irancell financials thereby diluting the impact on revenue and EBITDA growth.
The average revenue per user (ARPU) has marginally declined in most operations, which is consistent with increased penetration into lower usage segments, MTN said.
MTN South Africa performed well in a very competitive environment and despite the slowdown in consumer spending in many sectors due to rising interest rates, inflation and the rising fuel prices.
Subscribers increased by 5% to 15.6 million in June 2008 from 14.8 million in December 2007, mainly due to strong growth in prepaid subscribers which grew 6% to 13 million and to a lesser extent the 4% growth in postpaid subscribers to 2.6 million.
The introduction of MTN Zone, the prepaid dynamic tariffing price plan, in February 2008 together with the continued impact of low denomination vouchers played a major role in the acquisition of prepaid subscribers.
MTN Zone had 4.5 million users at the end of June 2008, of which 400,000 were estimated to be new connections.
Looking ahead, MTN said given the current developments in the global telephony market, the group’s prospects for the second half of 2008 remain positive in increasingly competitive markets.
MTN’s major strategic priorities are actively seeking value-accretive expansion opportunities in emerging markets, ongoing infrastructure investment to ensure appropriate levels of capacity and quality of service, ensuring the Group is well positioned to benefit from a rapidly converging technology market and optimising efficiencies in maintaining and improving competitive position, it said.
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