MTN Rwanda recorded a drop in profits in its full 2022 financial year due to the renewal of its operating license, despite seeing increased revenues, subscribers and its mobile money platform.
The Rwandan unit saw profit after tax drop 12.8% to RWF19 billion (US$17.4 million) due to the business amortising its operating license which was renewed in 2021.
In a statement, MTN Rwanda CEO Mapula Bodibe said the unit “delivered solid overall business performance and continued growth across all business areas in a challenging macroeconomic environment.”
Despite the broader economic backdrop service revenue was up 19.9% to RWF221.7 billion (US$203.3 million), and increased capex by 28% year-on-year to RWF47.1 billion over the period, deploying 120 cell sites and spread coverage to 98.7% of the population. The company is aiming for 100% coverage this year.
According to regulator RURA statistics market share for the operator was stagnant at 64.4% but maintains MTN’s leadership in Rwanda by subscriber numbers.
The subscriber base grew by 5.9% YoY to 6.8 million, this growth was attributed to accelerating its distribution channels. Active data users grew 9% to 2.3 million with 191,000 new active subscribers.
Smartphone penetration increased by 3.4% to 22.8% as 308,000 new smartphones connected to the MTN network.
The MoMo mobile money platform grew by 16.3% to 4.3 million users, resulting in revenue growth of 48.4% YoY.
