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MTN Group’s earnings drop 69% amid currency woes

March 18, 2025

MTN Group’s earnings drop 69% amid currency woes following a tough year which has caused their headline earnings per share (HEPS) dropped from 315 cents in 2023 to just 98 cents in 2024. The culprits? The devaluation of the Nigerian naira and the ongoing conflict in Sudan.

In Nigeria, a shortage of dollars forced the government to devalue the currency, causing MTN Nigeria’s pre-tax loss to soar by over 200% to ₦550.3 billion ($355.76 million). The company’s trying to recover by renegotiating tower leases and increasing tariffs, which was approved in January.

Despite the rough patches, MTN CEO Ralph Mupita remains hopeful, especially about Nigeria, where he sees signs of recovery after 18 months of struggles.

In Sudan, however, the conflict took a toll on MTN, costing them R11.7 billion ($643.4 million). They’re working to restore service in conflict zones like Khartoum, where networks have been down since April 2023.

Across its 16 African markets, MTN saw a 15% dip in service revenue to R177.8 billion ($9.76 billion). However, in constant currency terms, service revenue actually grew by 14%.

South Africa performed better with a modest 3.1% increase in service revenue, driven by growth in data, fintech, and enterprise services. The fintech sector, particularly Mobile Money (MoMo), had a strong year, with revenue jumping 30.3% year-on-year.

In Rwanda, MTN had a mixed year, ending with a small loss of Rwf 5.5 billion ($4.2 million) but managing a surprise gain in the final quarter. MoMo played a huge part in this turnaround, now acc0unting for nearly half of MTN Rwanda’s total service revenue.

However, voice revenue took a hit, dropping 17.8%, and data services struggled due to tough competition from subsidised 4G smartphones. In South Africa, the telecom market is getting more competitive, and MTN’s prepaid customer base barely grew, up just 0.8% year-on-year.

The company raised prices in May, which led to customers cutting back on spending. On the other hand, postpaid services performed much better, with legacy voice service declines slowing down. Overall, MTN South Africa saw a 3.1% revenue increase.

Looking ahead, MTN is optimistic about South Africa’s economy stabilising, helped by lower inflation and interest rate cuts, which could boost data revenue in early 2025.

They’re rolling out new offers and strengthening sales channels to improve growth from Q2 onwards. Despite the challenges, MTN is banking on fintech, data, and enterprise services to fuel future growth.

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