MTN Uganda rang in higher service revenue, up by 15%, in the six months ended June 30, 2023, despite tough macroeconomic conditions.
MTN Uganda CEO Sylvia Mulinge said on Friday: “The effects of heightened inflation drove cost pressures upwards, which we mitigated through expense efficiencies.”
The group reported that voice revenue increased by 9.4%, underpinned by solid growth in its customer base. Data revenue increased by 22.1%, with its active data subscribers growing by 21.4% to 6.9 million.
Fintech revenue grew by 18.6%, supported by a steady subscriber base of 10.9 million customers.
MTN Uganda said it maintained its guidance of low double-digit service revenue growth, with a focus on earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) stability through operational efficiency.
Looking ahead, Mulinge said the optimistic inflation outlook coupled with effective cost discipline was anticipated to augment the group’s performance going forward.
“That said, the risks to inflation remain hinged on global macros, which could impact the shilling and uncertain weather conditions.
“Our focus for the remainder of the year will be on the seamless execution of our Ambition 2025 plans, which include driving industry-leading connectivity operations with the new spectrum allocation.
“We expect improved data speeds, introduction of e-sims, and 5G connectivity to address our growing customer needs.
“In the fintech space, we will accelerate our cashless conversion through key partnerships and aggressive mobile money ecosystem expansion,” she said.
She said from a financial perspective the group would continue to ensure disciplined capital allocation in its investments while managing its working capital to preserve its balance sheet and liquidity position.
Meanwhile, MTN Rwanda, which also released its results for the six months ended June 30, 2023, said it expected its 2023 guidance to remain intact as its revenue rose, boosted by an increase in mobile subscribers.
In its results for the six months ended June 30, 2023, the group said its revenue increased to Rwandan franc (RWF) 121.93 billion (R1.9bn) from RWF 106.39bn, in the same period in 2022. Ebitda improved by 4.8% to 54.97bn RWF.
The group reported that mobile subscribers increased by 6.0% year-on-year to seven million at the end of June.
MTN Rwanda CEO Mapula Bodibe said: "Active data subscribers increased by 5.1% to 2.3 million, and Mobile Money (MoMo) subscribers increased by 14.4% to 4.4 million.“
The group reported that net profit fell by 43.2% to RWF 5.54bn as a result of the high depreciation costs and increased finance costs, which were impacted by the CPI increase.
“Capex reduced by 31.3% to RWF 19.79bn, as a result of normalisation of capex spends, in the first half of 2023,” the group said.
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