MTN posts R115bn service revenue and starts R6bn share buyback

MTN Group will buy back about 31 million of its own ordinary shares for up to R6 billion, the company said on 24 August 2026, alongside first-half results that put group service revenue at R115 billion.

In constant-currency terms service revenue rose 17,5% in the six months to 30 June 2026, and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation before once-off items expanded by almost a quarter to R56 billion. The company described the margin as a record.

The buyback forms part of the shareholder remuneration framework announced with MTN’s Ambition 2030 strategy, which targets returning between 40% and 60% of equity free cashflow to shareholders in cash dividends or share buybacks. MTN said the programme will run for as long as it remains value accretive to shareholders, subject to market conditions.

Where the growth came from

Growth was led by MTN Ghana, MTN Nigeria, MTN Uganda, MTN Côte d’Ivoire, MTN Cameroon and the wider portfolio.

MTN South Africa recorded a 1,5% rise in service revenue, which the company attributed to the near-term cost of deliberate management actions to improve the quality of its prepaid base. In the second quarter of 2026, MTN SA’s service revenue grew 2,3%, up from 0,7% in the first quarter.

MTN SA ended the period with 39,5 million subscribers, a marginal decline in a competitive market the company described as marked by constrained liquidity. Of those, 28,2 million were prepaid customers.

“MTN SA’s prepaid performance was encouraging as we saw improving growth on data, fewer customers using airtime advance for recharging and increased bank recharges,” said group president and chief executive Ralph Mupita. “The deliberate reset of the prepaid base will deliver higher quality base growth over time.”

The company said good growth in postpaid, enterprise and wholesale drove the stronger second-quarter performance in South Africa.

Fintech and data carry the load

The group served 317,7 million customers across 19 markets at 30 June 2026. More than 179 million were active data users, and traffic carried on MTN’s networks rose nearly 23% to 14,3 petabytes.

Mobile Money remained the fastest-moving part of the business. Active users reached 70,8 million, transaction value rose by more than a third to US$330 billion, and transaction volumes increased 17% to 13 billion. Active agents grew to 1,4 million and active fintech merchants rose by more than 18% to 2,3 million. Advanced services led fintech revenue growth.

MTN committed almost R20 billion in capital expenditure in the first half to expand the mobile network, connect more homes and modernise IT across the business.

The IHS deal and the macro picture

MTN’s proposed acquisition of the remaining shares in tower group IHS Holdings is accretive to revenue, profit after tax and adjusted headline earnings per share on a pro forma basis, the company said.

The transaction has received approval from several regulators, including Nigeria’s Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission. As part of the conditional approvals, MTN will sell down 30% of IHS Nigeria to local Nigerian investors on an arms-length commercial basis and subject to market conditions. Subject to remaining approvals, MTN expects the deal to close in the second half of 2026.

Macro conditions were broadly supportive. Blended average inflation slowed to 9,3% from 14,0%, and the exchange rates of MTN’s main markets were stable against the US dollar. Against the rand, however, the currencies of most of MTN’s markets weakened, which detracted from earnings growth in rand terms.

“The Group’s overall performance in the period reflects strong conversion of the commercial momentum we see across our markets into growth in earnings, cashflow and returns,” Mupita said. “We are encouraged by the record margins delivered in the period as well as the strong cash upstreaming from operations.”

MTN said increasing digital adoption and financial inclusion across Africa support the long-term outlook for its connectivity, fintech and digital infrastructure businesses, and reaffirmed its medium-term guidance. It named geopolitical developments, foreign exchange volatility and inflationary pressures as areas of focus.

The full announcement is published at mtn.com.