Africa's largest cellphone operator, MTN Group, says it delivered a satisfactory performance for the quarter ended 31 March, despite “continued high levels of competition in key markets”.
In terms of subscriber numbers, the MTN Group has increased its base by 3.7%, recording 170 573 000 subscribers at the end of the quarter, with the biggest contributor to its base being Nigeria.
Of MTN's five largest operations - SA, Nigeria, Iran, Ghana and Syria - all but Syria saw growth in terms of subscribers, with SA representing the most significant growth proportionately. Syria's hampered performance and decline in subscribers, says the firm, is due to the civil unrest in the country. MTN Syria lost 23 000 subscribers over the quarter and saw a decline in local currency average revenue per user (ARPU) of 8.5%.
MTN SA contributed 13.3% to group subscribers and increased its subscriber base by 3.2% for the quarter, while ARPU declined by 7.9%. The latter development, says MTN, is mainly due to a reduction in interconnect rates to 56c per minute in March from the previous 73c. Postpaid and prepaid ARPU decreased 6.7% and 8.1%, respectively.
“The postpaid segment performed well, increasing its subscriber base by 4.4%, “mainly due to attractive data propositions. The prepaid segment increased its subscriber base by 2.9%, despite increased competition. This was attributable to competitive promotions, including the continued success of MTN Zone through improved informal distribution channels.”
MTN Nigeria's subscriber contribution is almost double that of SA's, at 25.1% - an increase of 3% for the quarter - Iran, Ghana and Syria contributed 21.6%, 6.1% and 3.3%, respectively.
MTN says the group will continue to prioritise key initiatives to better manage the business as consumer trends evolve and competition intensifies. “Data and related products and services continued to gain momentum. Data, including SMS, contributes 14.4% to revenue, driven mainly by MTN SA.”
MTN says its financial service, Mobile Money, is now available in 13 countries and had 6.2 million subscribers at the end of the quarter. “Initiatives to optimise costs continue to be rolled out and the centralised procurement initiative is showing solid progress.”
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