MTN Nigeria says it has taken full ownership of Mobile Money Payment Service Bank (MoMo PSB) after buying the 7.17% share owned by Acxani Capital for around NGN6.95 billion (US$4.36 million).
MTN Nigeria announced the transaction in a stock exchange filing on Monday, saying the transaction “will simplify and strengthen MoMo PSB operations, which is crucial in achieving its growth ambitions.”
According to Nigerian publication Punch, some MTN shareholders believe the move to take full control of MoMo PSB in part to mitigate heavy foreign exchange losses that has impacted MTN Group’s financial results. According to its first-half financial results released last week, MTN posted a pre-tax loss of NGN175.6 billion for the quarter ending June 30, 2024 despite reporting revenue growth across all of its segments.
MoMo PSB has become a key revenue driver for MTN, which said active wallets increased 701,000 in Q2 to reach 5.5 million. MTN’s fintech revenue grew by 11% in the first half of the year to NGN48.6 billion, compared to NGN43.6 billion in the same period last year, which the company credited in part to the success of MoMo’s airtime lending product ‘Xtratime’. Also, transaction volume saw a 33.4% year-on-year increase.
Nigeria is MTN's largest and most profitable market, and accounts for a large portion of the group's income, according to ITWeb Africa.
