MTN Group has reported a strong recovery in its half-year (H1) financial results for the period ending 30 June, 2025, underpinned by robust growth in Nigeria and Ghana, improved macroeconomic conditions, and a sharp increase in data and fintech revenues.
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Revenue and Earnings Performance
Group service revenue increased 23.2% year-on-year (YoY) to ZAR 105.1 billion, or 22.4% in constant currency, compared with ZAR 85.3 billion in H1 2024. Total revenue reached ZAR 109.3 billion. Data revenue rose 36.5% on a reported basis, while fintech revenue expanded 37.3%.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) before once-off items surged 60.6% to ZAR 46.7 billion, with the EBITDA margin climbing to 42.7% (H1 2024: 32.0%). On a constant currency basis, EBITDA growth was 42.3%, with margin expansion of 7.1 percentage points (pp) to 44.2%.
Headline earnings per share (HEPS) recovered to 645 cents, compared to a loss of 256 cents in the prior year. Adjusted HEPS, which strips out once-off and non-operational items, rose 76.1% to 657 cents, up from 373 cents in H1 2024. Basic earnings per share turned around to 539 cents, up 231.8% from a loss of 409 cents last year.
Operating free cash flow (OpFCF) more than doubled to ZAR 20.5 billion. Net-debt-to-EBITDA improved to 0.5x, from 0.7x during December 2024, comfortably below the group’s covenant threshold of 2.5x. Holding company (Holdco) leverage remained stable at 1.5x.
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Subscribers and Usage
The group’s total subscriber base rose 4.7% to 297.7 million. Active data subscribers increased 10.3% to 164.4 million, driving a 29.1% increase in data traffic to 11.7 petabytes. Average usage per subscriber climbed 17.1% to 12.4 GB per month. Smartphone penetration reached 65.2%, with 193 million smartphones connected to the network.
Mobile Money (MoMo) monthly active users rose 1.8% to 63.2 million. Transaction volumes increased 14.5% to 11.1 billion, while transaction values grew 45.4% to USD 212.2 billion. Within MoMo, advanced services revenue grew 42.0%, raising its share of total MoMo revenue to 33.4%, up 3.8 percentage points year-on-year.
Regional Performance
- Nigeria: Service revenue surged 54.1% in constant currency, driven by higher demand, price adjustments, and stable foreign exchange (forex) conditions. Data revenue grew 68.5%, voice revenue rose 39.9%, and fintech revenue jumped 71.2%. EBITDA increased 117.5%, lifting the EBITDA margin to 50.4%. Profit after tax was ZAR 4.9 billion, compared with a prior-year loss of ZAR 8.2 billion.
- Ghana: Service revenue grew 39.9%, supported by a 50.2% rise in data revenue, 13.2% growth in voice revenue, and a 43.3% increase in fintech revenue. EBITDA rose 46.0%, with margins improving to 58.5%.
- South Africa: Service revenue increased 2.3%, data revenue rose 4.3%, but EBITDA declined 3.9%, with margins flat at 36.5%. Prepaid voice remained under pressure, while the postpaid, enterprise, and fixed wireless access (FWA) segments showed growth.
- Uganda: Service revenue rose 13.3%, data revenue climbed 31.4%, and fintech revenue expanded 18.6%. EBITDA increased 17.8%, with margins improving to 53.7%.
- West and Central Africa (WECA): Regional service revenue rose 17.0%, with data up 29.5% and fintech up 26.4%. Ghana and Cameroon drove growth, while Côte d’Ivoire showed early signs of recovery.
- Middle East and North Africa (MENA): Service revenue increased 613.5%, mainly from MTN Sudan, which returned to growth despite conflict conditions.
Capital Expenditure and Investments
MTN spent ZAR 20.8 billion on capital expenditure (CapEx), excluding leases, up 54.8% from H1 2024. Including leases (IFRS 16), CapEx reached ZAR 27.3 billion. The group rolled out 1,443 3G, 1,766 4G, and 542 5G sites during the period. Full-year CapEx guidance was raised to ZAR 33–38 billion from ZAR 30–35 billion, largely due to stronger foreign exchange rates affecting Ghana’s costs.
Looking ahead, MTN will upgrade its medium-term service revenue growth guidance to “at least high-teens”, from “at least mid-teens.” Nigeria has revised its FY 2025 outlook to “at least low-50%” service revenue growth and its EBITDA margin to at least 50%, while Ghana is targeting mid-to-upper thirties growth with margins in the mid-to-high 50s. South Africa’s guidance was moderated to low-to-mid single-digit growth, with EBITDA margins of 35–37%.
Ralph Mupita, Group President and CEO, MTN, commented:
“The Group reported a pleasing set of results, driven by strong commercial execution, disciplined capital allocation and improved macroeconomic conditions. We are encouraged by the acceleration in our topline and recovery in our profitability and free cash flow generation. We have raised our overall medium-term guidance, underlining the strength of our portfolio as well as our commitment to accelerate the growth in our business, and continue to unlock value for our shareholders and broader stakeholders.”
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