MTN Nigeria Communications Plc has delivered its strongest half-year performance on record, with profit before tax hitting N1.09 trillion in the first six months of 2026, a 75.4 percent jump from the same period last year.
The results, filed with the Nigerian Exchange on Thursday, July 30, underscore a telecom giant firing on nearly all cylinders even as Nigeria’s broader economy continues to test corporate resilience.
Revenue climbed 25.9 percent year-on-year to N2.99 trillion, a figure that would have seemed ambitious even by MTN’s own standards a year ago. But it’s the profitability metrics that truly stand out.
Operating profit surged 41.9 percent to N1.27 trillion, while profit after tax rose 70.6 percent to N707.5 billion, outpacing revenue growth by a wide margin and signaling genuine operational leverage rather than simply riding a wave of top-line expansion.
Earnings per share followed suit, climbing 70.6 percent to N33.76, and the balance sheet strengthened considerably, with shareholders’ equity up 69.6 percent to N930.6 billion.
In recognition of the performance, MTN’s board approved an interim dividend of N26 per share, payable September 7 to shareholders on the register as of August 20, a tangible reward for investors who have stuck with the stock through Nigeria’s turbulent macroeconomic cycles.
If there’s a single thread running through MTN’s H1 story, it’s data. Data revenue climbed 38.3 percent to N1.70 trillion, now accounting for nearly 57 percent of total revenue and contributing more than three-quarters of the company’s overall revenue growth for the period.
It’s a clear marker of an industry-wide shift and MTN’s swift adaptation to it from voice-centric telephony toward broadband and digital connectivity.
Voice revenue, while still substantial at N897.1 billion (up 15 percent), is increasingly playing second fiddle. Together, data and voice accounted for roughly 86.7 percent of total revenue, but the growth differential between the two 38.3 percent versus 15 percent makes clear where the company’s future lies.
Elsewhere, the picture was mixed: SMS revenue rose 21.9 percent, digital revenue grew 21.1 percent, and handset sales jumped 29.3 percent, while interconnect and roaming revenue slipped 1.9 percent and value-added services fell 6.9 percent a reminder that not every corner of the business is riding the same tailwind.
CEO Karl Toriola attributed the results to “sustained commercial momentum, improved profitability and robust cash generation,” pointing to disciplined execution in a challenging operating environment.
The company added 4.9 million subscribers during the half, pushing its total customer base to 92.2 million, while active data users grew to 55.7 million, evidence that network investment is translating directly into usage.
Toriola also credited improved naira stability with easing cost pressures, helping expand the EBITDA margin by 5.3 percentage points to 55.9 percent, even as the company continued to pour money into network infrastructure, N620.5 billion in capital expenditure during the half, excluding lease costs.
Free cash flow, meanwhile, jumped 73.9 percent to N712.7 billion, giving the board the financial headroom to justify the generous interim dividend.
Total assets grew 10.5 percent to N5.97 trillion, driven largely by continued infrastructure investment property, plant and equipment, along with right-of-use assets, now make up about two-thirds of MTN’s total asset base.
Current investments more than doubled to N415.3 billion, while trade receivables declined, pointing to tighter collections discipline.
Not every indicator moved in a straight line, however. Cash and cash equivalents fell to N458.9 billion from N632.5 billion, reflecting heavy cash deployment toward capex, taxes, dividends, and debt servicing.
Traditional interest-bearing borrowings dropped sharply by 35.1 percent to N342.6 billion, easing MTN’s exposure to debt markets. But lease liabilities remain a heavyweight on the books at N2.44 trillion, still the company’s single largest financing obligation, a reflection of the capital structure typical of telecom infrastructure businesses that lease significant portions of their network assets.
Despite the blowout numbers, MTN Nigeria’s shares closed unchanged at N857.10 on the day the results were filed, suggesting the market had not yet fully digested the announcement. That said, the stock’s longer trajectory tells its own story: shares have gained 67.7 percent since opening the year at N511.00 and climbed roughly 19 percent in just the past four weeks alone, from around N720 to current levels.
With subscriber growth intact, margins expanding, leverage declining, and a richer dividend on the table, analysts and investors will likely be watching closely for how the stock responds in the trading sessions ahead and whether MTN Nigeria can sustain this pace of data-led growth through the rest of 2026.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
MTN Nigeria’s record N1.09 trillion half-year profit, a 75.4% jump, was fundamentally a data story. Data revenue alone drove roughly three-quarters of the company’s total revenue growth, confirming its shift from a voice-based telecom into a broadband-driven digital connectivity business.
Combined with disciplined cost control, reduced debt, and strong cash generation, this data-led surge is what powered record profitability, a fatter dividend, and a stronger balance sheet, making it the single most important factor behind MTN’s H1 2026 performance.
