MTN Rwanda has announced that its service revenue for the first quarter of 2023, grew by 14.9% to Rwf 58.4 billion and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) closed at Rwf 27.0 billion, representing a 9.4% increase.
The Company’s key revenue streams, data and mobile money, grew by 22.2% and 43.3%, respectively, while voice services slightly declined by 1.0%.
The company reported that quarter one financial results surpassed its medium-term guidance despite the continued challenging macroeconomic environment where inflation rose to 19.3% in comparison to March 2022.
The results came from increased subscriber base as well. For example, total mobile subscribers saw an increase of 451,000 closing its customer base at 6.9 million at the end the first quarter.
Additionally, MTN Rwanda’s subsidiary, Mobile Money Rwanda Ltd (MMRL) also continued to drive financial inclusion with an addition of 646,000 Mobile Money (MoMo) users closing the customer base at 4.4 million.
Mark Nkurunziza, MTN Rwanda’s Chief Finance Officer said that the financial performance reflects a consistently strong year on year growth.
In the first quarter, he said, “our earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) EBITDA, grew by 9.4% to deliver an EBITDA margin of 45.5%, which was down 2.2pp YoY.
This can be attributed to the increased cost of sales related to interconnect expenses and wholesale data cost of sales driven by an increased uptake of 4G services from the wholesale service provider.
“We expect an improvement in EBITDA margins in the forthcoming quarters with the implementation of our the expense efficiency program (EEP) and the launch of our own 4G network.”
Mobile Money business delivered a solid performance with a double-digit revenue growth of 43.3%, which was attributed to a growth in both Mobile Money services, as well as Xtratime, the airtime lending service.
Mobile Money revenues recorded a significant growth in merchant payments and remittance products, whilst advanced services have grown to contribute 22.5% to total Mobile Money revenues, up from 14% in Q1, 2022.
Active Mobile Money subscribers grew 17.2% YoY, driven by increased total subscriber growth as well as a continued focus on customer value management activities.
The Company’s CEO, Mapula Bodibe, said that she is pleased with the results, which demonstrate the company’s ability to execute its strategic priorities and deliver sustainable long-term growth for our business.
“Despite the challenging macroeconomic environment, we believe that our strategic intent to deliver leading digital solutions for Rwanda’s progress, and builds on our belief that Everyone Deserves the Benefit of a Modern Connected life, is aligned to Rwanda’s 2022 Broadband policy which we expect to unlock the next phase of growth as we continue to deliver on our Ambition 2025 strategy.”
She added that, “We remain committed to creating shared value and will continue to drive innovation across our business, to bring value for our customers, shareholders and stakeholders.”
“I would like to take a moment to express my deep appreciation to our customers, investors and all stakeholders for their unwavering support and continued commitment to the growth of our organization.”
