Africa's biggest mobile operator, MTN, this morning announced its revenue for the year ended 31 December 2012 increased 10.9%, to R135.1 billion, while the group's subscriber base increased 15.1%, to 189.3 million, during the period.
Group EBITDA increased 8.2%, to R57.9 billion, with an EBITDA margin of 42.9%, while headline earnings per share increased to 1 089.1c (1.9%). Data revenue grew 58.5%, to R14.5 billion.
In a statement to shareholders, MTN says it delivered on its commitment to shareholders and customers to accelerate network rollout, with 7 168 (3 685 2G and 3 483 3G) sites delivered during the year, a significant improvement on the 4 126 sites completed in 2011.
"In an effort to accelerate our 2013 capex investment programme, the reported capex for 2012 includes some equipment delivered for part of the 2013 rollout. We believe this will be a key factor in securing our continued growth over the medium term," says the operator.
The group announced capital expenditure of R30.1 billion for the current financial year, which positions it for "continued growth".
After a challenging 2012, MTN says it is well positioned for 2013. "We expect to deliver continued organic growth in both revenue and EBITDA, and anticipate reaching the milestone of 200 million subscribers by mid-year.
"The recovery in the performance of our key Nigerian operation is expected to continue throughout 2013. This, together with a lower tax rate and the benefits of the substantial network investment made in 2012 across all operations, which is to be continued in 2013, is likely to support growth in reported earnings in 2013. We continue to explore value accretive M&A activities."
In SA, MTN recorded an "impressive" operational performance, considering the step-up in competitive activity in the market.
The total subscriber base grew by 15.4%, to 25.4 million, driven primarily by 15% growth in the prepaid segment, to 20.9 million. "This was largely due to competitive offerings and in particular the MTN Mahala and MTN Zone offerings, as well as data services."
The postpaid subscriber base increased by 17.3%, to 4.5 million. "This growth in postpaid continues to be driven by competitive data offerings and the success of hybrid and telemetry packages. Net connections for the year totalled 3.4 million, compared to 3.2 million in 2011, and had the effect of increasing market share to 37.7%," says MTN.
Total revenue in SA grew by 7.1%, to R41.4 billion, from R38 6 billion in the prior year. This was primarily driven by solid growth in data (excluding SMS) and airtime revenue, supported by subscriber growth.
"Data revenue increased by 37.6%, to R6.4 billion, and contributed 15.5% to total revenue (excluding SMS). Data revenue was boosted by the increase in data users to 13.4 million, from 10.9 million, and 5 5 million smartphones on the network."
MTN says local capital expenditure for the period amounted to R6.4 billion, as the group continued to modernise its network and focus on 3G coverage and capacity.
Fibre rollout remains a priority to support the higher network volumes, says MTN.
"The qualification criteria for long-term evolution spectrum is still being finalised by the minister of communications, who has embarked on a process to address the high demand frequency bands in SA."
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