By Nkiruka Nnorom

Shareholders of MTN Nigeria Communication Plc have approved the payment of N174.44 billion final dividend, which translates to N8.75 per share dividend.

This brought the total dividends paid by the company for the year ended December 31, 2021 to N13.12 per share. It had declared N4.55 per share interim dividend in July in 2021.

The shareholders gave the approval at the company’s annual general meeting (AGM) in Lagos.

Addressing shareholders at the meeting, Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, Chairman, MTN Nigeria, said that having successfully undertaken its public offer that opened its shareholding to Nigerians, the company now intends to diversify its shareholders’ base through series of offers that would effectively reduce MTN Group’s shareholding in the Nigeria’s subsidiary to 65 per cent over time.

“There was no better way for us to commemorate our 20th anniversary than by giving more Nigerians the opportunity to participate in our future success, in line with our Ambition 2025 commitment to shared value. To do this, we launched an offer for the sale of 575 million shares held by the MTN Group in MTN Nigeria Communications Plc (the “Company”) in November 2021.

“The successful public offer was the beginning of a new phase in MTN Nigeria’s journey. We intend to further diversify our shareholder base through a series of offers that will reduce the MTN Group’s shareholding in the Company to 65 per cent over time. This will provide more opportunities for Nigerians to participate,” he said.

He noted that the company recorded improved performance across all key financial metrics in 2021 despite the impact of reduced enrolment of new subscribers due to the restrictions associated with the National Identification Number (NIN) SIM data verification exercise throughout the year.

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According to him, “Service revenue increased by 23.3 per cent to N1.7 trillion; voice revenue grew by 8.4 per cent due to higher usage in our active SIM base; data revenue rose by 55.3 per cent, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) and Profit Before Tax (PBT) grew by 27.9 per cent and 46.1 per cent to N877.1 billion and N436.7 billion respectively.”

Speaking, Karl Olutokun Toriola, CEO, MTN Nigeria, said: “We are focused on building on the platform of success laid in 2021. Our return to positive subscriber net additions in Q4 2021 establishes a solid basis for growth in 2022 as we boost gross connections through our rural connectivity drive and customer value management initiatives.

“We are seeing structurally sustained data growth. As a result, we continue to invest in network and information technology infrastructure and have secured the relevant frequencies to meet the higher demand.”