MTN Nigeria swings to ₦750 billion profit in September 2025, restores dividends

In nothing short of a turnaround, MTN Nigeria, the country’s largest telecom operator with 85.4 million subscribers, has sustained its profitability momentum, reporting ₦750 billion in the nine months of 2025, reversing a daunting loss in the previous year. The growth was driven by a favourable macroeconomic environment, price adjustments and prudent financial management.

The company’s revenue grew 57.4% to ₦3.7 trillion in the same period, underpinned by continued strong topline growth and investment in the network to improve the quality of service to both customers and government.

Key Takaways

• MTN has 85.4 million mobile subscribers as of September 2025
• Active data users increased by 12.8% to 51.1 million in nine months
• Active mobile money (MoMo PSB) wallets increased by 1.6% to 2.9 million
• Free cash flow (FCF) of ₦742.6 billion, up 38.5%

Data revenue grew to ₦1.97 trillion, overtaking voice revenue contributions to ₦1.34 billion. The telco experienced a 36.3% increase in data traffic. Additionally, data usage per user increased by 20.8% to 13.2 GB, driven by customer value management initiatives, investments in network capacity, along with higher smartphone penetration.

Fintech revenue grew to ₦131 billion in September 2025, driven by higher interest income from deposits, continued growth in advanced services, and onboarding high-value customers. Customer deposits increased by 80.5% compared to December 2024. Additionally, active wallets expanded to 2.9 million in September 2025, owing to a revamp of customer acquisition strategy.

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“We are pleased to report that MTN Nigeria has restored its positive retained earnings and shareholders’ equity positions,” said Karl Toriola, MTN Nigeria’s CEO. “This is a significant milestone that demonstrates strong operational momentum and disciplined execution.”

With profitability becoming more sustained, the board finally approved an interim dividend of ₦5 per share, payable from distributable net income. This is a turning point for shareholders who held on to MTN stocks, especially during the bloodbath of tanking share prices and poor results in 2024.

The telco’s core focus is on sustaining the strong performance of 2025. That will include discipline, more revenue streams and a strengthened balance sheet to navigate market dynamics and capture growth opportunities. All of this will enable the company deliver on the planned 2025 full-year guidance.

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