Category: Uncategorized

Our asset realisation programme (“ARP”), introduced in March 2019, aims to reduce debt, simplify our portfolio, reduce risk and improve returns.

Subsequent to MTN Group’s announcement on 11 March 2020 reporting its 2019 annual results and the conclusion of the disposal of its stake in ATC Uganda for R2,2 billion, MTN confirms that regulatory approvals have now been received for the disposal of its stake in ATC Ghana. MTN is due to receive further transaction proceeds of approximately $384 million (R6,7 billion, based on an exchange rate of R17,4:$1) in the next week. This takes the total proceeds received for the disposal of both ATC Uganda and ATC Ghana to R8,9 billion, which will be applied to paying down US-dollar debt and general corporate purposes.

Click here for further details: https://www.mtn.com/investors/shareholders/sens/category-sens/?sens_year=2020

MTN reports commercial momentum, strategic progress and strong financial results; CEO to step down next year, succession process underway

MTN Group today announced an encouraging set of results for the year ended 31 December 2019 and that group president and CEO Rob Shuter would be stepping down from his role at the end of his contract in March 2021.

Commenting on the results, Shuter said:

“In 2019, the 25^th anniversary of MTN Group, we delivered commercial momentum across our operations as well as great progress in our strategy and strong financial results, despite challenging trading conditions.

We added 18 million customers to reach a total of 251 million and increased our data users by 17 million to 95 million and our fintech customers by 7 million to 35 million. This growth is central to our belief that everyone deserves the benefits of a modern connected life. We also saw improvements in customer experience, network quality and market share across the group.

On the strategic front, we launched our instant messaging platform Ayoba, which is now live in 12 markets with two million monthly active users. We launched MoMo in South Africa and Afghanistan and received our super-agent licence in Nigeria, registering more than 100 000 agents by year-end. We also delivered R14 billion of asset realisations within the first 12 months of our programme and MTN Nigeria listed on the Nigeria Stock Exchange. We recorded progress on various regulatory issues, including the AGF tax matter in Nigeria. Relationships with stakeholders across our markets improved, and we reported our highest employee sustainable engagement score yet.

On the financial side, we delivered service revenue growth of 9,8% with an acceleration in the second half. Our EBITDA margin improved and reported headline earnings per share grew by 62%. Our network rollout brought a further 69 million people into 4G coverage whilst reducing capex intensity.  Improved cash flows during the year supported stable balance sheet ratios.”

Operating environment

This outcome was delivered against challenging macroeconomic conditions, particularly in South Africa, with muted economic activity and the rand weakening against the US dollar.

Financial performance

In constant currency terms, group service revenue increased by 9,8%* to R141,8 billion and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) expanded by 13,6% to R53,4 billion. The holding company leverage ratio improved to 2,2x, which is well within the group’s guidance range of 2,0 to 2,5x, and we reduced our capex intensity to 17,5% from 19,3%, indicating greater efficiency in deploying assets. Driven by the strong earnings performance, operating cashflow increased by 18% and the ROE increased from 11,5% in 2018 to 14,3% in 2019 on an IAS17 basis.

The group’s results were supported by double-digit growth in service revenue by both MTN Nigeria and MTN Ghana. The performance of MTN South Africa was impacted by economic pressure, new data usage rules and changes in recognition criteria for roaming revenue from Cell C due to delayed payments under the networking roaming agreement.

Management succession

MTN announced that the group president and CEO Rob Shuter will be stepping down from his role at the end of his contract in March 2021. The board thanks Rob for the contribution he has made, and continues to make, to MTN. The succession process will be concluded during the year, enabling a seamless handover.

MTN group chief technology and IT officer Charles Molapisi has been appointed to the group executive committee and the fixed contract of the group chief operations officer, Jens Schulte-Bockum, has been extended until 31 March 2022.

Looking ahead, Shuter says:

“We are well positioned for growth. Guided by our well-defined BRIGHT strategy, we are building our growth strategy on our digital operator model while optimising efficiencies, capex and cashflow.

Following data price reductions in South Africa and Nigeria in 2019, we expect price elasticity to improve data revenue growth in 2020, supported by expanded 4G coverage in Nigeria and across the group. We will continue to scale up our fintech and digital services as well as grow our enterprise and wholesale businesses.

We have maintained our service revenue, EBITDA margin, capex intensity and ROE targets and increased our asset disposal target by a further R25 billion over the medium term. We also now target a holding company leverage ratio at below 2x. We will use 2020 to implement our succession process and ensure a seamless handover to the new group president and CEO whilst maintaining our operational execution.

Inspired to harness the pioneering spirit that has built MTN over the last 25 years, we remain committed to delivering on our strategy in a more agile way in close collaboration with our many partners, with whom we are #GoodTogether.”

MTN Group has signed the United Nations Women Empowerment Principles, pledging its commitment to the advancement of Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, at MTN’s International Women’s Day event.The Principles provide guidance on how businesses in all sectors can advance and empower women in the workplace, marketplace and community. MTN Group purposefully operates to ensure that everyone deserves the benefit of a modern connected life. To guarantee this, the Group strives to ensure that men and women benefit equally from ICT thereby assisting to reduce inequalities that exist across its footprint.

Gender Empowerment is a key strategic component of MTN’s Corporate Social Investment across its footprint. Significant contributions have been towards the empowerment and development of girls and women in the countries in which we operate. Initiatives include enabling access to ICT and building capacity of girls and women in coding, robotics, programming & computer assembling.

According to the GSMA Mobile Gender Gap Report 2019, women in low- and middle-income countries are 10% less likely than men to own a mobile device, and 23% less likely to make use of the internet, as compared to their male counterparts. “MTN Group commits itself fully to the Women’s Empowerment Principles, as this has the capability to transform lives across the continent and beyond,” said Rob Shuter, MTN President and CEO, MTN Group. “If the mobile gender gap is not addressed, women risk being left behind as societies and economies digitise.  Importantly, we are honoured to be part of the pledge, which also supports African Union’s focus on driving women’s financial and economic inclusion, gender-based violence and accountability to global gender commitments,” he added.

Through this pledge and strategic partnerships, MTN intends to meaningfully respond to barriers that arise from ICT and address inequalities that hinder girls and women from fully participating in and benefiting from the bold, new digital world. And to ensure girls and women have the necessary skills and knowledge to understand, develop content, participate in and benefit fully from ICTs and their applications.

MTN commends the deliberate commitment made by the African Union to bridge the gender gap on the continent. We share the view that women should be enabled to play a meaningful role in developing our continent.

MTN Ghana (Scancom PLC or MTNGH or the Company) delivered a strong performance for the year in a competitive industry, maintaining market leadership with 55.21% market share. Service revenue increased by 22.8% year-on-year (YoY), underpinned by growth in revenue from voice, data and Mobile Money (MoMo).

Double-digit growth in voice revenue (up 19.4% YoY) was driven by an increase in the number of active subscribers* (+11.2%), the benefits of various customer value management (CVM) initiatives and pro-consumer activity, as well as continued improvements to our network. As new lines of revenue continued to grow much faster than the traditional business, voice revenue’s contribution to service revenue decreased from 46.3% to 45.0%.

Solid data revenue growth (up 32.5% YoY) was attributable to growth in active data users# (+26.6%), growth in the number of smartphones (+18.5%) on the network and an increase in data usage (up 85.9% to 256,301 Terabyte). Data revenue’s contribution to service revenue expanded from 26.3% to 28.4%.

Click here for more details: https://www.mtn.com/investors/shareholders/sens/category-sens/?sens_year=2020

Today, MTN Nigeria appeared before a Federal High Court in Lagos, Nigeria to formally discontinue its legal action against the Attorney General of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Minister of Justice (the “AGF”). This follows from the decision of the AGF to hand the matter over to the relevant regulatory authorities.

MTN applied today to have the legal action struck out, which request was granted by the court.

MTN remains committed to meeting its fiscal responsibilities and contributing to the social and economic development of Nigeria in collaboration with all stakeholders .

An MTN delegation represented by Chairman of MTN Group, Mcebisi Jonas; Chairman of MTN Nigeria, Dr. Ernest Ndukwe; MTN Group CEO, Rob Shuter and MTN Nigeria CEO, Ferdi Moolman met with His Excellency President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria. They also met with key government officials including Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami; Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele and AttorneyGeneral and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami.

As part of its ongoing commitment to Nigeria, MTN announced a capital investment programme of $1.6 billion (approximately N580 billion) over the next three years to strengthen and expand its network and operations in the country.

The news was shared during a statement by President Buhari, whereby he reaffirmed that the Federal Government of Nigeria is committed to providing an enabling environment for businesses to succeed. He went on to say that the government is also looking at ways to increase the level of security across critical national infrastructure, noting that it would guarantee seamless service delivery and also facilitate investments throughout the country.

The President expressed that he was pleased with MTN’s support of Nigeria’s digital inclusion programmes and its commitment to growing the telecommunications industry across the region.

Commenting on the news, Chairman of MTN Group Mr Mcebisi Jonas said, “We are steadfast about our investments in Nigeria, particularly over the next three years as we aim to strengthen and expand our network and systems. We are fully aligned with the strategic agenda of the Nigerian government and are committed to strengthening the digital economy of the country,” he continued.

“Financial inclusion and access to funding and digital services all become easier when our continent is powered by connectivity. The benefits of a connected continent are far reaching, making a positive impact across Africa. We cannot achieve this goal on our own, and are working on strengthening relationships with our key partners to extend access to comprehensive and affordable solutions to all,” said Rob Shuter, MTN Group President and CEO.

MTN Group has announced that Gordian Kyomukama has been appointed as the new MTN South Sudan CEO, effective 21 January 2020. Gordian is a seasoned telecoms executive, with close to 30 years of experience in the sector, most of which has been with MTN.

He started in MTN Uganda as part of the Opco’s pioneer team and has also undertaken secondment opportunities in Rwanda, Cameroon and Ivory Coast, in the course of his tenure. Prior to returning to Uganda, he was Chief Technology and Information Officer (CTIO) of MTN Liberia.

Commenting on Gordian’s appointment, MTN Group CEO Rob Shuter said, “I would like to congratulate Gordian on his new role, and I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Lily Zondo, who has been holding the fort as acting South Sudan CEO over the past few months. Lily will resume her role as MTN South Sudan Chief Financial Officer (CFO) with immediate effect.”

Changes in Cameroon

MTN Cameroon CEO, Hendrik Kasteel, will be leaving MTN at the end of March, due to personal reasons. He will serve out his notice over the next two months, and a successor will be announced when finalised.

On 4 September 2018, MTN announced that MTN Nigeria Communications PLC (“MTN Nigeria”) was disputing a claim for back taxes of approximately USD2 billion by the Attorney General of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Minister of Justice (the “AGF”). Subsequent to this, MTN Nigeria commenced legal action in Nigeria against the AGF, which court action was most recently postponed to 30 January 2020.

MTN Nigeria has been informed by means of a letter received by its legal counsel and dated 8 January 2020, that following careful review and due consultation with relevant statutory agencies, the AGF has decided to refer the matter to the relevant authorities, being the Federal Inland Revenue Service (“FIRS”) and Nigeria Customs (“NC”), with a view to them resolving the issues. Accordingly, the AGF has withdrawn its letter of demand for the aforementioned USD2 billion that was issued in August 2018.

MTN Nigeria will consequently follow due court process to withdraw its legal action against the AGF and engage with FIRS and NC on this issue. MTN remains committed to building and maintaining cordial relationships with all regulatory authorities in Nigeria. Commenting on the news, MTN Group CEO, Rob Shuter said “we appreciate this decision of the Attorney General which paves the way to an orderly and amicable resolution of this matter.  MTN remains fully committed to meeting our fiscal responsibilities and contributing to the social and economic development of Nigeria and all regions where we operate.”