MTN Group reported a 21.3% increase in adjusted headline earnings per share to 793 cents for the first half of 2026, driven by record EBITDA margins and a 17.5% rise in service revenue to R115.3 billion in constant currency terms.
The Johannesburg-based telecoms giant posted a 24.4% rise in EBITDA to R54.9 billion, with its EBITDA margin expanding by 3.1 percentage points to a record 47.6%. Operating free cash flow before spectrum and licenses climbed 27.5% to R25.1 billion, while equity free cash flow surged 32.7% to R7.0 billion. Free cash flow conversion reached 92.5%, and return on capital employed rose to 31.5%, up 4.1 percentage points from December 2025 levels.
Group leverage remained conservative at 0.3x net debt to EBITDA, well below the 1.0x target, with liquidity headroom of R39.1 billion. Capex intensity moderated to 16.6% from 19.0% a year earlier, while operating expenses grew 13.3%. An expense efficiency program delivered over R1.2 billion in savings.
Subscriber growth accelerated to 6.7% year-over-year, lifting the total base to 317.7 million. Active data users rose 9.1% to 179.3 million, with data traffic jumping 22.8% to 14,338 petabytes. Smartphone penetration reached 53%, up from 50% in the prior-year period.
Fintech revenue growth slowed to 13.3% in constant currency terms, or 19.3% when adjusted for regulatory impacts such as Uganda’s election shutdown and Nigeria’s suspension of airtime advance products. Mobile money monthly active users increased 12.1% to 70.8 million, while transaction volume rose 17.2% to 13.0 billion. Transaction value climbed 33.8% to $330.5 billion in constant currency.
Regional performance varied, with Nigeria’s service revenue up 25.7% and EBITDA margin expanding to 55.9%, while South Africa’s service revenue grew just 1.5% amid a prepaid reset. Ghana reported a 32.3% service revenue increase and an industry-leading EBITDA margin of 61.8%.
MTN reaffirmed its medium-term guidance, achieving or exceeding targets for service revenue growth, ROCE and leverage. The group’s shareholder remuneration framework allows for up to R6 billion in share buybacks, representing 40-60% of equity free cash flow. The conditional approval for the IHS tower acquisition, requiring the divestment of up to 30% of the Nigerian component, is expected to close in the second half of 2026.
