MTN Group has recorded $10.75bn (R176.2bn) in service revenue for the nine months ended September 2026, driven by strong growth in mobile data and fintech services across its African markets.
The telecommunications giant said service revenue increased by 17.2 per cent in constant-currency terms compared with the corresponding period in 2025, while reported revenue rose by 9.9 per cent.
The group’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) also increased by 22.9 per cent in constant-currency terms, pushing its EBITDA margin up by 2.8 percentage points to 47.9 per cent.
MTN disclosed the performance in its nine-month financial results, attributing the growth largely to increased internet usage, expanding digital services and stronger adoption of mobile financial products.
The company added 7.2 per cent more subscribers year-on-year, bringing its customer base to 322.9 million across its markets.
Data services emerged as the biggest revenue driver, generating R88.9bn ($5.42bn), representing a 28.2 per cent increase in constant-currency terms.
The segment accounted for 50.4 per cent of the group’s total service revenue, supported by 181.7 million active data users.
Data traffic increased by 27.3 per cent to 22,754 petabytes during the period.
MTN’s fintech business also recorded strong growth, with revenue rising by 12.7 per cent in constant-currency terms to R22.6bn ($1.38bn).
The company’s mobile money platform, MoMo, recorded 70.3 million monthly active users, while the value of transactions facilitated through its fintech ecosystem increased by 36.9 per cent to $512.5bn across 20.3 billion transactions.
The value of loans facilitated through the platform also surged by 80.1 per cent to $4.2bn.
MTN Nigeria was among the group’s strongest-performing markets, recording a 23.5 per cent increase in service revenue in constant-currency terms, alongside an EBITDA margin of 56.9 per cent.
MTN data traffic rises 30% as active users hit 57.2m
MTN Ghana also recorded 33.5 per cent service revenue growth, with an EBITDA margin of 61.6 per cent.
Across other markets, revenue in Southern and East Africa increased by 19.7 per cent, while Francophone Africa recorded 9.4 per cent growth.
The group’s free cash flow stood at R22.4bn ($1.37bn), while operating subsidiaries transferred R21.4bn ($1.31bn) to the parent company, representing an 80 per cent increase from R11.9bn in the corresponding period of 2025.
The improved cash generation supported MTN’s N6bn share buyback programme, of which N2bn had been executed during the nine-month period.
The company maintained a net debt-to-EBITDA ratio of 0.2 times, while its available liquidity stood at R42.8bn ($2.61bn) at the end of September.
MTN also disclosed that it redeemed its maturing $500m Eurobond on October 13, strengthening its debt position.
Meanwhile, the company said its proposed transaction with IHS Holding had secured shareholder and other regulatory endorsements but was awaiting final clearance from competition authorities in South Africa and other jurisdictions.
MTN said its continued investment in terrestrial and subsea fibre infrastructure through Bayobab remained central to its Ambition 2030 strategy of expanding broadband connectivity and supporting growing digital demand across Africa.
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