MTN Uganda’s net profit up 29.7% to Shs 295.7 billion

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MTN Uganda’s net profit up 29.7% to Shs 295.7 billion
MTN Uganda has announced a significant 29.7% increase in net profit to Shs 295.7
billion for the half-year ended June 2024, driven by robust growth in voice, data, and
fintech services.
The telecom company's voice revenues rose by 15.1% to Shs 626.7 billion, while data
and fintech services saw impressive increases of 28.6% and 23.5%, reaching Shs 373.3
billion and Shs 442.3 billion respectively during the same period.
Overall, MTN Uganda's service revenue surged by 20.4% to Shs 1.5 trillion, supported
by a 14.6% growth in mobile subscriber numbers, which now stands at 20.7 million.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) grew by 22.4%
to Shs 784.7 billion. In light of this performance, the company has proposed an interim
dividend payout of Shs 6.6 per share, equivalent to Shs 147.8 billion, to be paid on
September 20.
"MTN Uganda’s performance in the first half of the year continued on a positive trend,
supported by the overall momentum in economic growth,” said MTN Uganda CEO
Sylvia Mulinge.
“The Ugandan economy grew by 6.0% for the 2023/24 financial year with macro-
economic indicators trending favorably in the six-month period.”
Mulinge highlighted the company's investment of Shs 219.1 billion to enhance the
quality, capacity, and resilience of the MTN network, with a focus on 4G and 5G
technologies. The 4G LTE population coverage increased to 87.8%, up 4.4 percentage
points, while the 5G rollout extended to 538 strategic sites, achieving full coverage of
the capital, Kampala.
"Our 2G and 3G population coverage also rose to 98.9% (+0.5pp) and 93.2% (+0.8pp)
respectively as we extended connectivity across the country to ensure that all
Ugandans enjoy the benefits of a modern connected life,” she said.
In the fintech space, Mulinge noted that MTN’s investment in the past six months was
geared towards advancing the ecosystem with a focus on enhancing appreciation of its
advanced services and expanding core services.
“During Q1, we addressed our customers’ credit requirements by establishing a
comprehensive loan suite, Wesotinge, in partnership with five financial institutions to
meet both short and long-term liquidity needs,” she said. The company also introduced
a short-term credit facility, Merchant Xtra Stock, and increased the number of
cashpoints for agent top-ups to reduce float gaps, resulting in a 25.2% year-on-year
increase in transaction volumes to 2.0 billion.

Looking ahead, Chief Finance Officer, Andrew Bugembe reaffirmed the company’s
medium-term guidance framework of delivering mid-teen service revenue growth,
maintaining stable EBITDA margins above 50%, and keeping capital expenditure
(excluding leases) intensity at mid-teen levels.
“Leveraging on our network investment, we commit to deliver reliable and affordable
voice and data services to empower our loyal customer base,” he said.
“To sustain our commercial momentum in the second half, we will continue to partner,
innovate, and provide solutions to meet an ever-evolving market as technology
advances.”
Bugembe said investments, particularly in 5G and 4G LTE, should enhance customer
experience and sustain the momentum achieved.
Richard Yego, Managing Director of MTN Mobile Money Uganda Ltd, MTN Uganda’s fintech
arm, said the company would continue to focus on enhancing liquidity requirements for its
merchants and agents as well as solutioning for the customers to encourage cashless
transactions
He said the Bank of Uganda's directive for mandatory verification of customers
conducting mobile money transactions above Shs 1 million has not negatively impacted
the fintech services.