Telecommunication giants, MTN Ghana, has recorded a significant increment in its profit after tax last year with total profits amounting to GH₵2,001,383, 000 in 2021. This represents a year-on-year increase of 43.5% over the GH₵1,394,895, 000 recorded in 2020, according to the company’s 2021 Financial Statement.
MTN Ghana revealed in its 2021 Financial Statement that data revenue grew by 56.3% year-on-year to GH₵2.769 billion. The company attributed the growth to increased data traffic (+54.9%) owing to various commercial interventions, improvements to the network, changes in consumer usage behavior and increased smartphones on the network (+10.6%).
“We delivered sustained growth in our core business during 2021. We continued to focus on innovation and diligent execution of operational strategies aided by the commitment to our people. Service revenue grew by 28.5%, driven mainly by increased investment in the network and commercial initiatives which resulted in growth of our customer base and usage across our core business”.
MTN Ghana
The contribution of data to service revenue also increased from 29.6% to 36.0% year-on-year in line with its revenue diversification strategy. Active Mobile Money users recovered from the challenges in the first half of 2021 to achieve a growth of 3.8% year-on-year.
Growth in Mobile Money advanced service offerings such as retail merchant payments, micro loans, insurance, and international remittances supported an increase in MoMo revenue by 38.2% year-to-year to GH₵1.734 billion in 2021, according to the 2021 Financial Statement.
Importantly, the contribution of Mobile Money to service revenue increased from 20.9% in 2020 to 22.5% in 2021. Despite the growth in active digital subscribers, the company’s digital revenue declined by 5.1% in 2021 to GH₵200 million.
MTN Ghana stated that during the period, it embarked on a cleanup of its digital products and services to enhance transparency to customers, improved its digital messaging channels and added more value to the music and gaming offerings to meet the entertainment needs of customers. These helped grow its active digital subscribers by 1.1 million to 4.2 million in the period.
Due to the sterling performance, the board recommended a final dividend of GH₵0.085 per share, bringing the total dividend for 2021 to GH₵0.115 per share. This represents 70.6% of profit after tax and a 43.8% increase in dividend per share when compared to the prior period.
Over the years, MTN has won various awards as the highest taxpayer in Ghana in recognition of its contribution to the fiscal development of the country. During the year, MTN paid GHS2,767 million to government in direct and indirect taxes, representing 35.8% of its total revenue.
MTN to engage government on implementation of E-Levy
Meanwhile, the leader in Ghana’s telecommunication industry says it will continue to engage government and other regulatory stakeholders on the implementation of the Electronic Transaction Levy and subsequently working on its system’s readiness for implementation.
“MTN acknowledges the impact of the proposed levy on its customers. To lessen the overall impact of the new levy, MTN has committed to reducing fees on P2P transactions by 25% upon implementation of the e-Levy. MTN continues to engage with government and other regulatory stakeholders on the implementation of the e-Levy and working on our system readiness for implementation”.
MTN Ghana
On 17th November 2021, the Finance Minister presented the Budget Statement and Economic Policy of Ghana for the 2022 financial year in which he proposed the introduction of a levy on electronic transactions to widen the tax net.
The 1.75% e-Levy will cover electronic transactions on Mobile Money, bank transfers, merchant payments and inward remittances. The levy when approved will be borne by the sender, except for inward remittances, in which case the levy will be borne by the receiver. The e-Levy will not be applied to transactions totaling GHS100 or less per day per customer.
MTN Committed to National SIM registration
During the year, the National Communications Authority (NCA) directed all telecom operators to embark on a nationwide re-registration of all SIM cards using the Ghana National ID card. This exercise began on October 1, 2021 and is expected to run until March 31, 2022.
“MTN is committed to supporting this national initiative to register all existing and new subscribers using the Ghana National ID card which would benefit the telecoms and financial services industry through improvement in security and reduction in fraud within the country”.
MTN Ghana
According to MTN Ghana, it has committed significant resources to the SIM registration exercise. “We also remain keen to work with the Regulator and National Identification Authority to ensure all customers are registered and challenges are raised in a timely manner for resolution”, says MTN Ghana.
