Rwanda’s largest telecom company, MTN Rwandacell (MTN Rwanda), has posted R₣19.4 billion ($19.1 million) in profit in the first nine months of its 2021 fiscal year, which ended in September 2021.
The profit marked an 8.7-percent growth when compared with the profit of R₣17.9 billion ($ 17.52 million) that it posted last year.
The growth in earnings was supported by a boost in voice and data revenue despite a 25-percent increase in operating expenses and a 37.2-percent surge in depreciation and amortization costs.
Figures contained in the report revealed that the group revenue (which includes voice, data and financial services revenue) increased by 23.5 percent from R₣111.3 billion ($109.35 million) in 2020 to R₣137.5 billion ($134.8 million) in 2021.
The growth in overall revenue was underpinned by solid growth in voice, data and financial services revenue, as mobile subscribers and active data users increased by nine percent and 23.8 percent to 6.4 million and 2 million, respectively.
This improvement in subscriber base spurred a 1.7-percent increase in the company’s market share to 62.8 percent. This cements its status in East Africa as the largest telecom services provider in Rwanda.
MTN Rwanda CEO Mitwa Ng’ambi said that despite the economic slowdown triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, the company was able to execute its strategy and deliver on its promise of creating shared value for all stakeholders.
“Despite the impact of the pandemic, our financial performance was supported by the resilience of our business model and commercial execution which saw our mobile subscriber base grow by 9-percent, with active data users and mobile money (MoMo) users up by 23.8 percent and 18.7 percent year-on-year, respectively,” she said.
She concluded that the management will deploy the necessary strategies to maintain growth momentum in Q4 2021, as the group will focus to maintain a healthy margin and invest heavily in the capacity and quality of its services.
MTN Rwanda is an operating subsidiary of MTN Group, a telecom behemoth based in South Africa.
Earlier this year, the company listed on the Rwandan Stock Exchange after Rwanda’s Capital Market Authority approved the listing by introducing 1,350,886,600 (1.35 billion) ordinary shares valued at R₣269 ($0.27) per share.
Trading as “MTNR,” MTN Rwanda was valued at $364 million. This gave the local bourse a boost in its market capitalization.
