N174.44 Billion Final Dividend Declared By MTN

A total of N174.44 billion final dividend has been approved by shareholders of MTN Nigeria Communication Plc which translates to N8.75 per share dividend.

The company had declared N4.55 per share interim dividend in July which brought the total dividends paid  MTN Plc for the year ended December 31, 2021, to N3.12 per share.

The approval was given by the sharehlders  at the company’s annual general meeting (AGM) in Lagos.

Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, Chairman, MTN Nigeria,addressing shareholders at the meeting,  said that having successfully undertaken its public offer that opened its shareholding to Nigerians, the company now intends to diversify its shareholders’ base through series of offers that would effectively reduce MTN Group’s shareholding in the Nigeria’s subsidiary to 65 percent over time.

“There was no better way for us to commemorate our 20th anniversary than by giving more Nigerians the opportunity to participate in our future success, in line with our Ambition 2025 commitment to shared value.

"To do this, we launched an offer for the sale of 575 million shares held by the MTN Group in MTN Nigeria Communications Plc (the “Company”) in November 2021.

“The successful public offer was the beginning of a new phase in MTN Nigeria’s journey.

"We intend to further diversify our shareholder base through a series of offers that will reduce the MTN Group’s shareholding in the Company to 65 per cent over time.

"This will provide more opportunities for Nigerians to participate,” he said.

Adding improved performance was recorded by the company across all key financial metrics in 2021 despite the impact of reduced enrolment of new subscribers due to the restrictions associated with the National Identification Number (NIN) SIM data verification exercise throughout the year.

According to him, “Service revenue increased by 23.3 percent to N1.7 trillion; voice revenue grew by 8.4 percent due to higher usage in our active SIM base; data revenue rose by 55.3 percent, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) and Profit Before Tax (PBT) grew by 27.9 per cent and 46.1 percent to N877.1 billion and N436.7 billion respectively.”

 Speaking, CEO, MTN Nigeria, Karl Olutokun Toriola, said: “We are focused on building on the platform of success laid in 2021.

"Our return to positive subscriber net additions in Q4 2021 establishes a solid basis for growth in 2022 as we boost gross connections through our rural connectivity drive and customer value management initiatives.

“We are seeing structurally sustained data growth.

"As a result, we continue to invest in network and information technology infrastructure and have secured the relevant frequencies to meet the higher demand.”