Cellular29.10.2018

MTN South Africa loses subscribers

MTN Store

MTN has released its quarterly update for the period ended 30 September 2018, which shows a drop in subscriber numbers for South Africa.

The results were a mixture of positive and negative, with MTN SA recording service revenue growth of 3% year-on-year.

“Data and digital revenue increased by 12.5% and 9.9% respectively, while outgoing voice revenue declined by 8.4%,” said MTN.

MTN added that the local economy is weak, and consumers are feeling the pressure of a higher VAT rate.

While prepaid service revenue increased by 0.5% – and postpaid service revenue increased by 1.9% – subscriber numbers were down.

MTN said it has 23.7 million prepaid customers, down 3.4% quarter-on-quarter, and 2.9 million postpaid users – up 2.1% quarter-on-quarter.

Data customers

The number of active data subscribers increased by 6.7% to 13,5 million, however, and MTN said this was thanks to it taking steps to transform data prices.

Its roaming agreement with Cell C is also “contributing positively towards revenue and EBITDA” and will be implemented in line with MTN’s planned timelines.

In terms of finances, MTN SA’s margin on EBITDA was at 34.5% – from 34.8%.

“The lower sequential EBITDA margin was largely impacted by higher device prices, following the weakness in the rand exchange rate and increased device sales in the quarter.”

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