MTN Nigeria Communications Plc has returned to profitability after three consecutive quarters of losses. The telecommunications company reported an after-tax profit of N4.13 billion for the third quarter of 2024.

However, the telecommunications company reported N514.93 billion for the nine months ended September 2024 due to successive quarters of loss, which were revealed in its financial statements. Its nine-month loss represents a decline of 0.80% from the N519.1 billion reported for the six months ended June 2024, indicating a slowdown. MTN’s financial performance has been affected by record inflation and the devaluation of the naira, which has worsened companies’ operational expenses.

Karl Toriola, Managing Director of MTN Nigeria, said: “Over the first nine months of 2024, we have maintained growth in our underlying operating performance, supported by our resilient business model and operational agility, despite challenging conditions. .

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The telecommunications company noted that its profit after tax (PAT) adjusted for net foreign exchange loss would have been N118.5 billion for the nine months.

The unification of the foreign exchange market by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in 2023 caused the naira to fall by N471/$ before rising above N1,500, leading to losses in the telecommunications sector , Airtel Africa and MTN Nigeria losing 1 N. 0.29 trillion in foreign exchange losses in 2023.

Airtel Africa recently announced that its revenue fell to $2.37 billion between March and September due to currency devaluation in Nigeria. Its PAT of $79 million was impacted by $151 million in exceptional derivative and foreign exchange losses (net of tax) “arising from the further depreciation of the Nigerian naira during the period”.

Despite economic challenges, MTNN increased its service revenue by 33.6% to N2.4 trillion, boosted by data revenue of N1.14 trillion. “Our business momentum has delivered broad-based growth across all revenue segments, demonstrating the underlying strength and resilience of the business. We recorded an increase in service revenue of 33.6 percent, which is higher than the average inflation rate for the period. This growth was driven by data and supported by voice, fintech and digital services,” Toriola said.

It highlighted that its subscriber base declined by 0.9 percent to 77 million, impacted by NIN-SIM regulations, but its active data users increased by 5.1 percent to 45.3 million. Voice traffic increased by 9.8 percent and data traffic by 42.1 percent. MTN noted that data usage per user increased by 31.2% to 11.3GB, supported by growing demand for data and digital services.

The telecommunications operator noted that rising inflation and interest rates weighed on consumers’ purchasing power and impacted business activity during the period under review.