Mobile Telecommunications Limited (MTC) revenue increased by 5.9% to N$3.23 billion for the period ended 30 September 2024 driven by rising demand for high-speed data connectivity and value-added managed services.
The growth was underpinned by the expansion of both mobile and enterprise revenue segments.
The Group recorded an increase in roaming revenue, attributed to the recovery of the tourism industry post-COVID and a general increase in economic activities in the country.
Despite this, the company’s net profit after tax decreased from N$796.9 million to N$772.9 million mainly due to an increase in depreciation and amortisation of 12% year on year associated with the strategic decision to invest in new technologies, capacity increase and infrastructure rollout.
MTC Managing Director Licky Erastus said the Group’s capital expenditure increased from N$587.6 million in 2023 to N$715.4 million due to investment in major projects that continue to support its vision and strategy.
“This included an additional approval of N$200 million to drive MTC’s fibre implementation to mitigate the dependency risk on our backbone fibre infrastructure,” he said.
Meanwhile, the SIM registration project increased temporary personnel costs, overtime and travel-related costs because of the SIM registration deadline in December 2023 and its extension to March 2024.
“A subscriber year-on-year growth of 2.5% was reported for the financial year despite a decline in prepaid subscribers during the compulsory SIM registration process, the impact of severe drought and high food inflation that negatively affected spending,” noted Erastus.
He said MTC has been able to attract new subscribers with value-added products and service offerings that resulted in an increase in the total number of active subscribers from 2.17 million in 2023 to 2.224 million in 2024.
“Prepaid ARPU grew by 13.6% because of subscribers that signed up for the subscription base products and the demand for data,” he said.
This comes after the group incurred N$15.4 million in marketing, consultation, management, system support and personnel costs during the year under review.
MTC’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) decreased to N$1.48 billion from N$1.51 billion in the same period last year, due to increases in direct and operating costs and payment and provision of the annual licence fees of 1% of turnover.
Following a Supreme Court ruling on Section 23 of the Communications Amendment Act on 13 March 2024, MTC was found liable for levies to CRAN for the 2021 (partially), 2022 and 2023 financial years.
“This resulted in a settlement of N$58.4 million for levies in arrears (reported under contingent liabilities in FY2023) and an additional N$37.9 million for levies due in FY2024. This impacted the EBITDA by N$96.3 million and 3% on the margin,” said the company.
He added that MTC is optimistic about the future, especially with the launch of the Mobile Financial Service offering through MTC Maris, which promises to enhance financial inclusion and sustainability.
“The EBITDA of the group decreased, and the main contributor was the launch of MTC Maris which is expected to yield positive returns in the near future. Mobile Financial Service ‘Maris’ was launched on the 4th of October 2024,” said the MD.
An interim dividend of 70% was declared on the interim financial results and a final dividend of 90% was declared resulting in a total dividend percentage of 80.63% for the 2024 financial year.
“In terms of dividends, by the end of September, we had paid out close to N$545 million. Last week, the board approved an additional pay-out, bringing the total dividend pay-out for the year to 81%,” said Erastus.
