MTN Is Growing Fast in Nigeria and Ghana, and Barely at All at Home
SOUTH AFRICA · TELECOMS
Key Facts
—The headline: Adjusted headline earnings per share rose 21.3% to 793 cents in the six months to 30 June 2026, from 654 cents restated.
—The other headline: Reported headline earnings per share fell 5.8% to 615 cents, and basic earnings per share fell 26.1% to 404 cents.
—Revenue: Service revenue reached R115.3 billion, up 9.7% as reported and 17.5% in constant currency.
—Margin: Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation grew 20.0% as reported, lifting the margin 4.4 percentage points to 47.1%.
—Fintech: Mobile Money monthly active users rose 12.1% to 70.8 million, transaction volumes 17.2% to 13 billion, and transaction value 33.8% in constant currency to US$330.5 billion.
—The gap: Constant-currency service revenue grew 25.7% in Nigeria and 32.3% in Ghana, against 1.5% in South Africa. South African EBITDA fell 7.7%.
—Capital: No interim dividend, as in the first half of 2025, and a R6 billion buyback after the closed period. Net debt to EBITDA is 0.3 times, rising to 0.8 on the IHS pro forma.
The MTN half-year results published on 24 August 2026 show adjusted headline earnings per share up 21.3% to 793 cents. US$330.5 billion moved through the fintech arm. South African service revenue grew 1.5%.
Three earnings numbers, and why they disagree
MTN reports its profit three ways, and this half they point in opposite directions. Getting them straight is the whole story.
Adjusted headline earnings per share, which strips out one-off items, rose 21.3% to 793 cents from 654 cents restated. That is the operating business.
Reported headline earnings per share fell 5.8% to 615 cents. Basic earnings per share fell 26.1% to 404 cents, from 547 cents restated. All comparatives are restated for a lease-accounting change at MTN Ghana.
There are two different wedges here, and MTN’s results booklet separates them. The Irancell write-down opens the gap between basic earnings and headline earnings. It was R3.9 billion attributable to the group on a 49% stake, against nothing a year earlier. Currency opens the other gap: net foreign exchange losses of R2.3 billion, largely South Sudan, plus a 52-cent hyperinflation charge.
What the MTN half-year results say about the business
Service revenue reached R115.3 billion. That is 9.7% growth as reported. In constant currency, it is 17.5%, showing how much of MTN’s story is really about currency.
Profitability moved further. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation before one-off items grew 20.0% as reported, lifting the margin 4.4 percentage points to 47.1%.
The mix keeps shifting toward data. Data revenue rose 21% to R57.6 billion. Voice fell 3.8% to R30.4 billion as reported, but grew 2.4% in constant currency.
Customers rose 6.7% to 317.7 million across 19 markets, with active data subscribers up 9.1% to 179.3 million. Wholesale revenue added 10.3% as reported, to R5.2 billion.
Capital discipline held. Capital expenditure excluding leases was R19.7 billion, an intensity of 16.6%, inside MTN’s 15 to 18% medium-term target range.
The fintech arm is now the interesting half
Mobile Money monthly active users rose 12.1% to 70.8 million. Transaction volumes grew 17.2% to 13 billion.
The number that stops people is the value: US$330.5 billion, up 33.8% in constant currency. That is a payments business of genuine scale attached to a telecoms operator.
It is also where MTN’s strategic argument lives: a mobile operator on telecoms multiples that also runs a continental payments network. The arm is growing more slowly than the group wants. It rose 13.3% in constant currency, below the medium-term target of high twenties to low thirties.
The user growth is the part that compounds, though it is slower than the headline suggests. MoMo added about 1.3 million monthly active users in the half. It gained 7.6 million over the past year, ending 2025 at 69.5 million.
Home is the problem
Constant-currency service revenue grew 25.7% in Nigeria and 32.3% in Ghana. In South Africa it grew 1.5%.
Those first two figures need their label. Nigeria grew 25.2% on a reported basis. Ghana grew 43.8%, and its rand figure beat the constant-currency one because the cedi strengthened. MTN’s summary table on page ii shows a different Ghanaian figure. It also reports 7.1%, which does not match the segment note.
South Africa is 1.5% either way. MTN credits deliberate work on its prepaid base for that. This includes an airtime advance reset in a tough market. Home earnings actually went backwards: South African EBITDA fell 7.7% and the margin dropped 2.2 points to 34.3%. It is now MTN’s third-largest market by service revenue, behind Nigeria and Ghana.
The balance sheet gives management room to wait. Net debt to EBITDA sits at 0.3 times. The group declared no interim dividend, as in the first half of 2025. It announced a R6 billion buyback that starts once the closed period ends. MTN’s own pro forma numbers show the IHS purchase taking leverage to 0.8 times.
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The results also carried a hard condition on MTN’s acquisition of IHS Holding, and it is a significant one.
Nigeria’s competition regulator gave conditional approval. MTN’s filing says it must sell up to 30% of its Nigerian IHS stake at market prices over time. MTN says it is comfortable with the conditions as set out.
The transaction was announced on 17 February 2026 at US$8.50 a share. IHS shareholders approved it at a meeting on 4 August. The commonly quoted US$6.2 billion is an enterprise value. Cash to non-MTN shareholders is closer to US$2.2 billion, as MTN rolls over its stake.
MTN has done this before in reverse. It sold 5,701 South African sites to IHS in 2022 for R6.4 billion. That deal left 30% with a black economic empowerment consortium, so the Nigerian condition mirrors a known structure.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did the MTN half-year results show?
Adjusted headline earnings per share rose 21.3% to 793 cents in the six months to 30 June 2026. Reported headline earnings per share fell 5.8% to 615 cents, and basic earnings per share fell 26.1%.
Why did reported and adjusted earnings move in opposite directions?
They answer different questions. The R3.9 billion Irancell impairment, 213 cents a share, explains the 26.1% fall in basic earnings. The gap between reported and adjusted headline earnings is currency and hyperinflation. It is 126 cents of foreign exchange losses and a 52-cent hyperinflation charge.
How big is MTN’s fintech business?
Mobile Money had 70.8 million monthly active users and 13 billion transactions. Transaction value was US$330.5 billion in the half, up 33.8% in constant currency.
Did MTN pay a dividend?
No interim dividend was declared by the group, as in the first half of 2025. It announced a R6 billion share buyback beginning after the closed period. MTN Nigeria separately declared its own interim dividend of N26 a share.
What condition was placed on the IHS deal?
Nigeria’s competition commission granted conditional approval. MTN must sell down up to 30% of the Nigerian component of the IHS business at market prices over time.
Connected Coverage
The Iranian write-down was covered before these results: how MTN’s trapped Iranian stake keeps costing it. More from the Southern Africa desk.
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