MTN Group has reported record margins for the first half of 2026, with service revenue, earnings and capital spend all showing strong growth.
In the six months to June 2026, and in constant-currency terms, MTN Group’s service revenue grew 17.5 percent to R115 billion, (equivalent to roughly $7.18 billion)
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, excluding once-off items, expanded by almost a quarter to R56 billion (approximately $3.50 billion).
The Group committed almost R20 billion, around $1.25 billion, in capital expenditure during the half to expand its mobile network, connect more homes and modernise IT infrastructure across the business.
MTN also announced a share buyback programme covering approximately 31 million ordinary shares for an aggregate consideration of up to R6 billion (roughly $374.5 million).
The programme forms part of the shareholder remuneration framework unveiled alongside the Group’s Ambition 2030 strategy, under which MTN commits to delivering between 40 percent and 60 percent of equity free cashflow to shareholders through dividends or buybacks.
The Group also advanced its planned acquisition of the remaining shares in tower company IHS Holdings, a deal it says is accretive to revenue, profit after tax and adjusted headline earnings per share on a pro forma basis.
The transaction has cleared approval from several regulators, including Nigeria’s Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, and MTN expects it to close in the second half of 2026.
“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. We are encouraged by the record margins delivered in the period as well as the strong cash upstreaming from operations,” said MTN Group President and CEO Ralph Mupita.
MTN’s fintech business continued its expansion, with 70.8 million active Mobile Money users driving demand for secure, convenient services and lifting the value of MTN fintech transactions by more than a third to $330 billion.
Transaction volumes rose 17 percent to 13 billion, active agents grew to 1.4 million, and active fintech merchants increased by more than 18 percent to 2.3 million, with advanced services leading overall fintech revenue growth.
As at 30 June 2026, MTN served 317.7 million customers across 19 markets, of whom more than 179 million were active data users, lifting network traffic by nearly 23 percent to 14.3 petabytes.
In South Africa, a highly competitive market marked by constrained consumer liquidity, MTN recorded a marginal decline in subscribers to 39.5 million, of whom 28.2 million were prepaid customers.
Service revenue in the unit grew 1.5 percent overall, with second-quarter growth accelerating to 2.3 percent from 0.7 percent in the first quarter.
Macro conditions were broadly supportive during the period, with blended average inflation across MTN’s markets slowing to 9.3 percent from 14.0 percent, and US dollar exchange rates across its main markets remaining largely stable. However, most MTN market currencies weakened against the rand, weighing on earnings growth in rand terms.
On the outlook for the Group, MTN said rising digital adoption and financial inclusion across Africa continue to support long-term demand across its connectivity, fintech and digital infrastructure businesses.
“While geopolitical developments, foreign exchange volatility and inflationary pressures remain areas of focus, our diversified portfolio, strong balance sheet, strong market positions, and disciplined execution provide resilience,” Mupita said, reaffirming the Group’s medium-term guidance.
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