MTN Nigeria Communications Plc reported a pre-tax profit of N1.12 trillion for the nine months ended 30 September 2025, recovering from a N713.6 billion loss in the same period last year. For Q3 2025 alone, the telecom giant posted a pre-tax profit of N504.2 billion, significantly higher than the N37.7 billion reported in Q3 2024.
The telecom giant also declared interim dividends for the first time since the 2022 financial year Revenue: N3.73 trillion (up 57.41% YoY from N2.37 trillion) Gross Profit: N3.23 trillion (up 62.4% YoY from N1.99 trillion) Operating Profit: N1.44 trillion (up 203.34% YoY from N475.3 billion) Pre-tax Profit: N1.12 trillion (vs. N713.6 billion loss YoY) Earnings per Share (EPS): N35.77 (vs. (N24.51) loss per share in 2024) Total External Debt (Short & Medium Term): N813.77 billion (down from N972.9 billion as of Dec 2024) Total Assets: N4.99 trillion (up from N4.20 trillion)Cash Balance: N495.9 billion (up from N253.4 billion) Driving the Numbers MTN Nigeria’s N3.73 trillion revenue in the period was driven by strong growth across nearly all service lines: Data services led the pack with N1.97 trillion in revenue, a 73% YoY increase, accounting for over 53% of total revenue. Voice revenue also posted healthy YoY growth of 48%, rising to N1.19 trillion from N803.95 billion. Value-added services such as airtime lending and mobile money generated N131.1 billion, up from N75.1 billion (↑74.5%). Digital services rose to N71.3 billion, reflecting growing demand for lifestyle, music, and video content. SMS revenue came in at N147.5 billion, up from N107.2 billion. Interconnect and roaming revenue rose modestly to N167.6 billion, while handset and accessories’ sales contributed N14 billion. These gains were supported by increasing smartphone penetration, accelerated data consumption, and fintech adoption.
On the cost side, direct network operating expenses rose 15.3% YoY, primarily due to higher BTS lease, regulatory, and network maintenance costs. Finance costs increased to N404.2 billion but were partly offset by a N55.6 billion net foreign exchange gain, in stark contrast to a N904.9 billion forex loss in the prior year. MTN also showed improved cash flow strength, with net cash from operating activities up 113% YoY to N1.56 trillion. MTN also reported strong cash flow generation, with net cash from operating activities more than doubling to N1.56 trillion. This allowed the company to invest over N800 billion in capital expenditure, grow cash reserves, and reduce borrowings by over N300 billion, strengthening its financial position and returning net assets to positive territory. Despite higher capital expenditure, cash balances more than doubled, and debt levels reduced, enhancing the company’s financial flexibility. Market Reaction MTN Nigeria’s share price closed at N520.10 on the day the Q3 2025 results were released, rising from N423.00 at the beginning of October, a 22.9% gain month-to-date.
On a year-to-date basis, the stock has surged by 197%, making it one of the best-performing stocks on the Nigerian Exchange in 2025. The strong market reaction reflects investor confidence in the company’s turnaround story and profitability outlook. In a further vote of confidence, MTN declared an interim dividend of N5.00 per 2 kobo ordinary share, its first dividend payout since returning to profitability. The dividend will be paid on 28 November 2025 to shareholders on the register as of 20 November 2025, with the register closing from 21 November 2025.
