…To pay N104.95bn after a two-year drought
MTN Nigeria Plc will on Friday resume dividend payments for the first time since 2022, marking a major comeback after the largest telecommunications company in Africa’s most populous nation weathered a tumultuous period in the last two years.
The South Africa-headquartered operator said it will pay an interim dividend of N5 per 2 kobo ordinary share payout that will return roughly N104.95 billion to shareholders, according to calculations based on its 20.99 billion outstanding shares.
The decision marks a significant shift for Nigeria’s largest telecom operator, which suspended dividends in 2023, following a brutal foreign-exchange rout that wiped out earnings and left the company with heavy net losses.
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A steep naira devaluation, triggered by the central bank’s currency reforms, forced MTNN to book N925.36 billion in FX losses in 2024, higher than the N740.43 billion recorded in the previous year, effectively erasing profits and pushing its net debt higher.
But the tides are turning as the nine-month unaudited financials of the company mark a major shift in operational efficiency and a now stable economy that has helped the telecom operator return to profitability.
Net profit at the Karl Toriola-led company rose to N750.2 billion between January and September 30, 2025, marking one of the strongest corporate turnarounds in the Nigerian telecom industry’s history.
The result represents a 245.7 percent rebound from a N514.9 billion loss recorded in the same period last year, driven by robust data growth, fintech expansion, and improved macroeconomic stability.
The company’s performance was buoyed by a strengthened naira that has gained about 10 percent this year, easing inflation that slowed for the seventh consecutive month to 16 percent in October, and disciplined cost management that doubled operating margins.
“We are pleased to report that MTN Nigeria has restored its positive retained earnings and shareholders’ equity positions. This is a significant milestone that demonstrates strong operational momentum and disciplined execution,” Toriola said in the company’s earnings statement.
Total service revenue surged 57.5 percent year-on-year to N3.7 trillion, while EBITDA more than doubled to N1.9 trillion, with margins expanding by 15.1 percentage points to 51.4 percent.
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The company’s results show a positive liquidity position of N93 billion, driven by a turnaround in the company’s retained earnings to N142 billion compared to the N723 billion accumulated loss reported in the nine months of last year.
Investors are also rewarding the turnaround performance of the company, as the stock has gained 133 percent since January, closing its last trading day on Monday at N465 per share on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX). The stock has, however, lost 10 percent of its value in the past four weeks as it takes a hit from the bearish run on the Nigerian Exchange.