MTN posts 11% revenue growth in Q1 2020 amid COVID-19 pandemic

MTN posts 11% revenue growth in Q1 2020 amid COVID-19 pandemic

MTN Group has announced that its revenue grew by 11% in the first quarter of 2020 amid the global outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The telecommunications giant on Thursday said 6.6 million new subscribers joined its network in Nigeria and other markets.

The company said it recorded voice, data and fintech revenue growth of 6.3%, 26.4% and 26% respectively, while its total digital revenue increased by 15.6%.

Commenting on the positive result, Rob Shuter(pictured), MTN Group president and CEO, said the “impact of the pandemic on our quarter one performance was not significant as lockdown restrictions for our consolidated subsidiaries were only implemented from the last week of March 2020”.

He said active data users increased by 2.9 million and MoMo subscribers increased by 400 000 to 35.1 million.

“We continued to scale our Ayoba platform, recording 2.6 million monthly active users,” Shuter said.

“We accelerated our MoMo agency network in Nigeria, under our super-agent licence, adding 70 000 agents in the first quarter, bringing the total number of registered agents to 178,000.

“On strategic progress, the digital business returned to growth, booking 15.6 percent in the quarter.

“For our customers, we have ramped up our digital channels as a service alternative, to enable them to continue purchasing airtime and accessing our products and services seamlessly as well as launching Y’ello Hope Packages in most of our markets.”

The company added that its activities for the rest of 2020 will be shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic.