Data drives MTN Uganda's profits to Shs295.7b in 1st half of 2024

The increased usage of data by the general public has driven MTN Uganda’s profit after tax to shs295.7 billion in the first half of 2024 as compared to Shs228.035 billion over the same period in 2023, the telecom giants have said.

This development implies more people in Uganda prefer using data as compared to other services being provided by the company.

In unaudited financial results for MTN Uganda which it shared with its shareholders on August 5, indicates data revenue accelerated by 28.6 percent- boosted by a 26.8 percent growth in active data users to 8.8 million.

 “Our two-pronged strategy of deepening smartphone penetration through device financing and strategic partnerships with device manufacturers has yielded a 5.9 percentage point growth to 41.6 percent. We have continued to improve our data value proposition which has reduced churn and increased usage,” said the chief executive officer of MTN Uganda, Sylvia Mulinge.

Adding: “Our average subscriber data consumption (MB per active subscriber) improved by 19.9 percent while total data traffic increased by 51.9 percent with 4G traffic accounting for over two- thirds of total data volume.”

 The unaudited financial results of MTN Uganda show that in the first half of 2024, voice revenue grew by 15.1 percent year on year (YoY), a surge attributed to a sustained aggressive customer acquisition strategy coupled with a refreshed country-wide voice campaign in the period.

“We have also strategically invested in increasing our service touch points and network sites particularly in the upcountry regions,” Mulinge held.

According to Mulinge, these efforts have resulted in a 2.6 million growth in their base during the period.

However, on the other hand, the contribution of voice revenue to service revenue declined by 1.6 percentage point to 41.6 percent compared to 43.6 percent in 2023, owing to continued improvement in data and fintech segments.

MTN says during the period, Fintech revenue registered a 23.5 percent YoY growth with a strong performance in their mobile money business which grew by 25.7 percent in the first quarter of 2024 compared to 19.8 percent in 2023.

In a related development, Mulinge also pointed out that MTN Uganda’s solid revenue performance was driven by increased activity, with transaction volume up by 25.2 percent to 2.0 billion and transaction value up by 12.6 percent to Shs 69.4 trillion.

“The growth in transaction volume has been bolstered by higher merchant payments and person to person (P2P) activity while our advanced revenues continue to benefit from the success of the Wesotinge loan campaign which has strengthened our Banktech revenue line,” she emphasized.

The unaudited financial results of MTN Uganda indicate that during the first six months of 2024, advanced revenue contribution increased to 28.2 percent compared to 26.3 percent in the same period last year.

Mulinge said MTN Uganda merchants increased by 43.1 percent to 382,000 and agents by 24.9 percent to 202,000. Fintech revenue contribution to service revenues also increased to 29.4 percent compared to 28.7 percent in the same period in 2023.

During the period, Mulinge noted that MTN Uganda digital revenue grew by 26.0 percent driven by content value added services as the company continues to invest in its platforms to address the entertainment needs of its customers.

The Company’s board of directors have proposed the payment of the first dividend of Shs 6.6 per share, which translates to Shs147.7 billion for the six months ended June 30.

Book closure date for shareholders to get dividend is September 2, 2024, while the dividend payment date is September 20, 2024.

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