MTN Nigeria has announced a remarkable recovery, posting a substantial N1.1 trillion profit after tax in 2025. This follows a significant loss of N400.4 billion in the previous year. The turnaround is attributed to more stable foreign exchange rates, stringent cost management, and substantial growth in data consumption.

The company's service revenue experienced a 55.1 percent increase, reaching N5.2 trillion for the year ending December 31, 2025. Data revenue was a major driver, surging by 74.5 percent, while fintech income also saw impressive growth of 79.7 percent. This growth underscores the increasing demand for mobile data and digital financial services among Nigerians.

EBITDA more than doubled, climbing 108.9 percent to N2.7 trillion, and the EBITDA margin widened by 13.6 percentage points to 52.7 percent. These figures reflect strong operational efficiency and profitability.

A key factor in the company's recovery was the reversal in foreign exchange impacts. MTN Nigeria reported a net FX gain of N90.3 billion in 2025, a significant turnaround from the N925.4 billion loss incurred in 2024. This improvement followed a reduction in dollar-based debts and a more stable Naira, which closed the year at approximately N1,436 to the dollar, an improvement from N1,535 at the end of 2024.

MTN Nigeria CEO Karl Toriola described 2025 as a pivotal year, citing improved economic conditions and strong financial discipline as contributing factors to the return of positive retained earnings and shareholders’ equity. Retained earnings improved to N400.4 billion positive from a negative N607.5 billion, and shareholders’ equity recovered to N548.7 billion from a negative N458 billion.

The company's cash flow also showed significant improvement, with free cash flow rocketing 215.5 percent to N1.2 trillion. Capital expenditure (excluding leases) more than doubled to N1 trillion, demonstrating the company's investment in network expansion, spectrum optimization, and fiber deployment to meet increasing traffic demands and improve service quality.

Subscriber numbers increased by 7.9 percent to reach 87.3 million, with active data users growing by 11.6 percent to 53.2 million. Data traffic on the network rose 34 percent, and average data usage per user climbed 20 percent to 13.1 GB. Smartphone penetration reached 66.1 percent.

Voice revenue remained strong, growing by 42.1 percent, while the fintech sector continued to expand, with active MoMo wallets increasing by 30.8 percent to 3.7 million, supported by a 156 percent rise in customer deposits.

Operating expenses increased by just 16.7 percent, significantly lower than revenue growth, due to efficiency initiatives and better tower lease agreements. Cost of sales rose by 30.3 percent, also lagging behind topline growth, contributing to margin expansion.

MTN Nigeria ended the year in a net cash position of N104.8 billion, a significant improvement from a negative N719.5 billion the previous year. The company repaid N434 billion in borrowings and cleared all outstanding commercial papers without taking on new debt.

The board has recommended a final dividend of N15 per share, bringing the total dividend payout for the year to N20 per share, marking a return to dividends after a suspension in 2024 due to the loss.

Looking ahead, management maintains its medium-term target of service revenue growth in the low 20 percent range on average. They have also increased EBITDA margin guidance to the mid-to-high 50 percent range, contingent on inflation remaining in the mid-teens and the exchange rate fluctuating between N1,400 and N1,700 per dollar.