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MTN Nigeria Communications Plc

Audited results for the year ended 31 December 2022

MTN NIGERIA RELEASES AUDITED RESULTS FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022

Lagos | Nigeria: 31 January 2023

Today, MTN Nigeria Communications Plc (MTN Nigeria) announces its audited results for the financial year ended 31 December 2022.

Salient points:

  • Mobile subscribers increased by 10.5% to 75.6 million o Added 7.2 million subscribers in 2022
  • Active data users increased by 15.3% to 39.5 million o Added 5.2 million active users in 2022
  • Active fintech subscribers rose by 57.5% to 14.9 million
    1. 2.0 million active mobile money (MoMo) wallets since the launch of PSB
  • Service revenue increased by 21.5% to N2.0 trillion
  • Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew by 22.0% to N1.1 trillion
  • EBITDA margin increased by 0.2 percentage points (pp) to 53.2%
  • Profit before tax (PBT) grew by 22.3% to N534.0 billion
  • Profit for the year grew by 21.1% to N361.5 billion (excluding non-controlling interest)
  • Earnings per share (EPS) rose by 21.3% to N17.79 kobo
  • Capital expenditure (Capex) rose by 23.5% to N504.3 billion (up 18.6% to N361.0 billion, excluding the right-of-use assets)
  • Proposed final dividend of N10 per share

Unless otherwise stated, financial information is year-on-year (YoY, full-year 2021 versus 2022).

MTN Nigeria CEO, Karl Toriola comments:

Navigating a challenging operating environment

"2022 was challenging due to global macroeconomic and geopolitical volatility, resulting in higher inflation, supply chain uncertainties, foreign exchange volatility and availability. In Nigeria, Inflation reached a 17-year high of 21.5% in November before moderating slightly to 21.3% in December, bringing the average for the year to 18.8% and putting pressure on consumer spending. To curb rising inflation, the Central Bank of Nigeria increased interest rates four times in 2022, bringing the Monetary Policy Rate to 16.5% - up by five pp during the year. This was further raised by 1pp in January 2023 to 17.5%.

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Audited results for the year ended 31 December 2022

We continued to manage and invest in the resilience of our business and networks, expanding coverage and capacity with a focus on expense efficiencies and disciplined capital allocation. We became the first mobile network operator to launch a 5G network in Nigeria, providing coverage in key cities in the six geopolitical regions. Since its commercial launch in September 2022, we have rolled out 588 sites and brought the 5G network to 5G-enabled smartphones, starting with iPhone users.

In this regard, we made good progress towards the execution of Ambition 2025 while delivering commercial and financial performance in line with our medium-term guidance.

Creating shared value for our stakeholders

We are committed to creating shared value for our stakeholders in line with our Ambition 2025 strategy in which Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practices remain at the core of everything we do. In terms of eco-responsibility priorities, we advanced our work towards Net Zero as we continue to drive our Project Zero programme leveraging the latest technologies and service partnerships to deliver greater energy efficiencies, lower carbon emissions, reduce risks and improve cost controls.

In furtherance of our work to build sustainable societies, in 2022, we deployed approximately N2 billion into corporate social investment programmes through the MTN Nigeria Foundation to drive youth empowerment and address national priority issues. These programmes included medical outreach, scholarship awards and female entrepreneur training under the Y'elloprenuer initiative. Furthermore, solar-powered boreholes were donated to 34 communities, and 44 public secondary schools in 33 states and the Federal Capital Territory received fully furnished ICT and science laboratories.

In addition, we continued to expand broadband access in line with our Ambition 2025 to drive digital inclusion. Our broadband coverage at the end of 2022 was 87.9%, up by 3.4pp.

Compliance remains at the heart of our business and embedded in the strategic priorities that underpin our Ambition 2025 strategy. Accordingly, we are pleased to have been recognised by the Nigerian Exchange Limited as the listed company with the highest level of compliance with the Rules of the Exchange and other applicable laws and regulations. This follows our recognition by Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS) as one of the most tax-compliant organisations in Nigeria. These demonstrate our commitment to and track record of compliance and sound governance.

Our Road Infrastructure Tax Credit (RITC) project reached a significant milestone with the Federal Executive Council's approval to restore and refurbish the 110-kilometre Enugu- Onitsha Expressway. This has paved the way for the commencement of the project, which,

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Audited results for the year ended 31 December 2022

once completed, will positively impact the lives of Nigerians and contribute to the country's overall economic growth.

Finally, we significantly increased our shareholder base through MTN's Offer for Sale, which was concluded on 31 January 2022, when the Securities & Exchange Commission's (SEC) clearance of the Offer allotment was obtained. The Offer was the first phase of a series of transactions to increase Nigerian ownership in MTN Nigeria. As part of this, MTN Group offered an incentive of 1 bonus ordinary share for every 20 ordinary shares allotted, up to a maximum of 250 bonus ordinary shares per investor. The qualified investors who hold some or all the shares allotted to them for 12 months until 31 January 2023 (the qualification date) are eligible to receive the incentive shares in their Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) account after the requisite regulatory approvals are obtained.

Solid commercial and financial momentum

Our mobile subscriber net addition was 7.2 million for the year, representing a good recovery from the impact of an increase in churn in Q3 2022 and demonstrating the effectiveness of our churn management initiatives and interventions to ramp up gross connections.

Active data subscribers grew by 5.2 million and benefitted from our efforts to drive data conversion in new and existing subscribers. We accelerated the coverage and capacity of our 4G network in response to the rising data traffic, bringing 4G population coverage to 79.1% (up by 8.7pp). 4G traffic now constitutes 79.5% (up by 9.7pp) of the total traffic on our network.

We continued to progress in building our fintech ecosystem and executing its growth strategy with the commercial launch of our MoMo PSB in May 2022. Our active fintech users rose by

5.5 million to 14.9 million, of which approximately 2 million are active MoMo wallets. As planned, we reopened the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) interface in Q4 temporarily suspended to enhance control systems, starting with inbound transfers into customer wallets. We are in the final phase of onboarding deposit money banks. The outbound phase will be completed in Q1 2023, accelerating full commercial activities and the growth of active wallets.

Our strong commercial momentum, supported by an accelerated investment in our network, enabled growth across all revenue lines. As a result, we recorded a 21.5% increase in service revenue, above the average inflation rate and in line with our medium-term growth guidance. Our ability to maintain service revenue growth while unlocking efficiencies through disciplined execution of our expense efficiency programme led to a 22.0% growth in EBITDA and a 0.2pp expansion in EBITDA margin to 53.2%, in line with our medium-term target range.

In line with our dividend policy and guided by our ambition to create shared value for our stakeholders, the Board of Directors has proposed a final dividend of N10 per share to be

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Audited results for the year ended 31 December 2022

paid out of distributable net income. This brings the total dividend for the year to N15.60 kobo per share, an increase of 18.9%, delivering economic value to our shareholders.

In addition, we are exploring a scrip dividend option as an alternative form of shareholder return to a cash dividend, subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals. We anticipate that once regulatory approvals have been received, there will be further shareholder communication ahead of the Annual General Meeting (AGM) planned for 18 April 2023."

Key financial highlights

Items (in millions)

FY 2022

FY 2021

YoY

Q4 2022

Q4 2021

YoY

Total Revenue

2,012,272

1,654,299

21.6%

556,137

448,037

24.1%

Service Revenue

2,006,184

1,651,341

21.5%

553,492

446,989

23.8%

Voice

1,036,684

970,847

6.8%

282,909

248,390

13.9%

Data

764,821

520,540

46.9%

215,165

151,916

41.6%

Fintech

84,396

70,553

19.6%

23,158

20,317

14.0%

Digital

22,047

13,439

64.1%

6,141

3,994

53.8%

Other Service Revenue

98,236

75,961

29.3%

26,120

22,372

16.8%

Expenses

941,907

777,228

21.2%

266,337

205,476

29.6%

Cost of Sale

341,607

271,884

25.6%

93,373

71,413

30.8%

Operating expenditure

600,300

505,344

18.8%

172,964

134,062

29.0%

EBITDA

1,070,365

877,071

22.0%

289,799

242,562

19.5%

EBITDA Margin

53.2%

53.0%

0.2pp

52.1%

54.1%

-2.0pp

Depreciation & Amortisation

337,067

292,324

15.3%

94,181

76,166

23.7%

Net Finance Costs

199,326

148,060

34.6%

62,319

51,062

22.0%

Profit Before Tax

533,972

436,687

22.3%

133,299

115,334

15.6%

Taxation

175,095

138,033

26.9%

43,462

36,992

17.5%

Profit After Tax

358,877

298,654

20.2%

89,837

78,341

14.7%

Profit attributable to:

Owners of the company

361,532

298,654

21.1%

91,137

78,341

16.3%

Non-controlling interest

(2,655)

-

(1,300)

-

358,877

298,654

20.2%

89,837

78,341

14.7%

Capital Expenditure

504,332

408,295

23.5%

125,330

147,221

-14.9%

Capital Expenditure excluding Right of Use Assets

361,033

304,397

18.6%

109,251

137,941

-20.8%

Capex Intensity

25.1%

24.7%

0.4pp

22.5%

24.7%

-2.2pp

Capex Intensity excluding Right of Use Assets

17.9%

18.4%

-0.5pp

19.6%

18.4%

1.2pp

Free Cash Flows

566,033

468,775

20.7%

164,469

95,341

72.5%

Mobile Subscribers

75.6

68.5

10.5%

75.6

68.5

10.5%

Data Subscribers

39.5

34.3

15.3%

39.5

34.3

15.3%

Fintech Subscribers

14.9

9.4

57.5%

14.9

9.4

57.5%

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MTN Nigeria Communications Limited published this content on 31 January 2023 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 31 January 2023 20:27:09 UTC.