MTN Nigeria (MTNN), in its 3Q22 result, delivered solid earnings of N1.45tr. This represents a 20.6% growth from prior year and is in line with the company’s medium-term guidance of 20% - 25% revenue growth. MTNN continues to benefit from strong data revenue which grew 49.1%y/y, supported by well-entrenched network coverage with 4G population coverage at 77.1% (9M21: 69.2%), increased smartphone penetration (52%), and 70.6%y/y increase in data traffic. Voice revenue growth remained subdued at 4.2%y/y even as MTNN recorded a marginal (57,000) decline in subscribers during the quarter to bring total subscribers to 74.1million.
Subscriber churn was driven by sims affected by the NCC ban. You will recall that on April 4th, 2022, the Federal government gave the directive that all sim cards not linked to a NIN be barred from making outgoing voice calls. To this end, 18 million of MTNN’s subscribers were affected. As of 30th September 2022, 10.5 million of the initially restricted subscribers have submitted their NINs and 3.8 million have been reactivated.
That said, we saw an increase in data subscribers with 1.2million new active subscribers added in 3Q22 to bring total data subscribers to 38million. Active MoMo PSB users declined by 29% q/q to 1.8 million given a deliberate restriction in interbank transfer activities in a bid to strengthen control measures. You will recall that in late June, six weeks after launch, reports of some fraudulent transfers using MoMo accounts surfaced
