MTN reports 21%+ rise in half-year adjusted HEPS to 793c, group service revenue up 17.5%

Delegates walk past the MTN logo at the Investing in African Mining Indaba 2024 conference in Cape Town, South Africa, on 7 February 2024. Reuters /Esa Alexander

Africa's biggest telecom operator, which has more than 317 million customers in 19 markets, said its adjusted headline earnings per share (Heps) rose to 793c in the six months ended 30 June, up from 654c a year earlier.

Here are the rest of the details:

• Reported Heps declined by 5.8%, due to a non-cash impairment of its 49% stake in Irancell amid the Iran conflict and foreign exchange losses in South Sudan.

• Group service revenue, excluding the effect of currency fluctuations, grew 17.5% to R115.3bn ($7.21bn), led by strong performances in MTN Nigeria, up 25.7%, MTN Ghana, up 32.3%, and growth in Cameroon, Uganda and Cote d'Ivoire.

• Despite competitive pressure on the prepaid market at MTN South Africa, service revenue growth edged up by 1.5%.

• Core earnings rose by 24.4% to R56bn, while the EBITDA margin widened by 3.1 percentage points to 47.1%.