By Ngozi Onyeakusi — MTN Nigeria Communications Plc has recorded a revenue to the tune of N856.48 billion for nine months ended September 30, 2019.

The firms unaudited result showed that the figure showed a growth rate of 12.03 per cent when compared with N764.46 billion achieved in the corresponding period of 2018.

Profit after tax dropped to N148.32 billion during the period under review in contrast with N157.19 billion achieved in the comparative period of 2018, a decrease of 5.64 per cent.

Also, profit before tax stood at N212.01 billion in contrast with N227.08 billion in 2018, representing a decrease of 6.63 per cent.

The company’s Earnings Per Share stood at 729k during the review period and lower than 772k achieved in the comparative period of 2018.

The company said that its mobile subscribers during the period increased by 0.1 million to 61.6 million.

Also, active data users increased by 1.6 million to 22.3 million, while service revenue rose by 12.1 per cent to N854.9 billion.

Commenting on the performance posted on the website of Nigeria Stock Exchange, Mr Ferdi Moolman, the company’s Chief Executive Officer, said that it was currently exploring financing options to diversify funding sources.

Moolman said that the company’s performance was very encouraging and also demonstrated the resilience of its business despite challenging environment.

“We sustained double-digit growth in service revenue led by growth in voice and data revenue.

“We are currently exploring financing options, including the issuance of Commercial Papers as part of our debt strategy to diversify our funding sources and optimise overall funding costs.

“In the remaining quarter of the year, we will continue to prioritise the expansion of our 4G network, coverage and drive active data subscriber growth.

“We expect voice and data revenue to continue to grow on the back of subscriber growth and increasing demand for data services.

“Having launched our Super-Agent services, our goal is to build a network of 100,000 agents by year-end.

“Super -Agent has always been a part of our MoMo plan and obtaining the licence shows we are on track with our plans.

“While we continue to engage with the Central Bank of Nigeria regarding obtaining a Payment Service Bank licence, we are fully harnessing opportunities that Super-Agent licence brings,”