Africa's largest mobile player, MTN Group, this morning said it had delivered a “satisfactory” performance for the year ended 31 December, growing its subscriber base by 16.2%, to 164.5 million
The company says revenue was 6.3% higher (9.7% on a constant currency basis), compared with the previous year, at R121.8 billion. This increase was mainly driven by sound growth in Nigeria, SA and Iran, of 4.1%, 7.7% and 20.1%, respectively.
Headline earnings per share climbed 43.2% to 1 070c, the group says.
The MTN Group noted the improved performance of MTN Sudan, which added 2.5 million subscribers in the year, and MTN Cote d'Ivoire, which made a strong recovery in the second half of the year.
“MTN Uganda also performed well in a competitive market, increasing its subscriber base by 18%, to 7.6 million.
“Political unrest in the Middle East remains a concern. There has been an impact on the business environments in Yemen and Syria, and MTN will continue to monitor both situations closely,” the company says.
Business in Iran remains buoyant, but MTN says it continues to be sensitive to the international issues relating to Iran, while retaining its firm commitment.
Locally, MTN SA - the country's second-largest mobile provider - performed well for the year, increasing its subscriber base by 16.9%, to 22 million. This was mainly due to growth of 17.6% in the prepaid segment to 18.2 million subscribers, the company says.
MTN SA's postpaid segment showed growth mainly in the second half of the year, increasing subscribers for the year by 14%, to 3.8 million.
Total revenue in SA increased 7.7%, due to strong growth in data revenue, which was up 27.7% (excluding SMSes), as well as growth in total airtime and subscriptions of 4.2%. Prepaid airtime and subscription revenue increased 14%.
Local interconnect revenue declined 9.8%, following the reduction in mobile termination rates to 73c, from 89c in March 2011. Average revenue per user per month slowed by 12%, primarily due to lower interconnect rates.
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