MTN Nigeria swung from a $278M loss to $773M profit in one naira-stabilised year
Data revenue up 74.5% overtook voice for the first time as doubled network investment and a steadier naira turned 2024's FX-battered loss into record profit.
What was changed
In 2024 MTN Nigeria, the operator in Africa's largest mobile market, posted a $278 million loss as naira volatility inflated costs, and its retained earnings fell into deficit. The recovery plan leaned into operations: the company more than doubled network investment to N1 trillion in 2025 (from N443.5 billion in 2024), secured a three-year spectrum lease with T2 Mobile effective 1 October 2025 for national roaming, and positioned the business around surging data demand, with traffic volumes up 34%.
The 2025 results marked one of the sharpest turnarounds in the region's telecom industry: revenue rose 55% to $3.62 billion (N5.20 trillion), profit after tax reached $773 million, pre-tax profit $1.18 billion, and operating profit more than doubled to $1.45 billion. EBITDA rose to $1.91 billion with margins above 52%, which the company reads as restored cost discipline. Data revenue surged 74.5% to roughly $1.93 billion, overtaking voice as the biggest income stream for the first time, while the MoMo fintech platform deepened its reach among young, mobile-first users.
The balance sheet rebuilt alongside the P&L: cash from operations reached $1.54 billion, $654 million went into infrastructure, equipment and spectrum, retained earnings flipped from deficit to $279 million, and total assets rose to about $3.76 billion. The company proposed a final dividend of N15 per share, bringing total payouts to N20 — its way, it said, of signalling renewed financial footing. The rebound was helped by easier macro conditions, with the naira stabilising at an average of N1,436 per dollar in 2025, and it came despite intense competition from Airtel Africa and Globacom.
Why it worked
Naira-driven cost inflation had turned 2024 into a heavy loss with retained earnings in deficit.
Explosive data demand — traffic up 34% — made network capacity the constraint on revenue growth.
Doubling capex and leasing spectrum let MTN absorb the traffic while keeping service quality stable.
What can be applied
In an FX-exposed market, the recovery plan is operational, not financial engineering: put capex where demand is exploding — data — and the macro thaw converts it into record profit.
Aftermath
MTN Nigeria enters 2026 with data and digital services as its biggest growth engines, though regulatory scrutiny and FX-linked cost challenges persist; management points to rising digital adoption and continued network investment as the basis for sustained expansion.