MTN Group Limited

MTN reported 6-month results for the period ended 30 June 2026. Service revenue grew 17.5% on a constant-currency basis, EBITDA expanded faster than service revenue, and the reported EBITDA margin was said to be the strongest since around 2012 after adjusting for IAS 17/IFRS 16 changes. Adjusted headline EPS increased 21.3% to ZAR 7.93 per share, while equity free cash flow grew 32.7%; return on capital employed rose to 31.5% from 27.1%. Fintech reported revenue growth was 13.3%, which management said would have been closer to 19.3% excluding non-operating factors. Hard operating metrics included about 318 million subscribers, nearly 71 million monthly active fintech users, and about $330.5 billion of fintech transaction value. CapEx intensity was 16.6%, cash upstreaming was ZAR 13.9 billion, group leverage was 0.3x, and the company said the next major debt maturity is a $500 million eurobond due in October. Management reaffirmed medium-term guidance overall, but said fintech would be out of guidance for the full year and Nigeria EBITDA margin is expected toward the lower end of its range, around 53%, because of higher energy costs.

Ralph Mupita emphasized broad-based commercial momentum, saying Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon, and Uganda all contributed to growth. His tone was confident and explanatory: he framed the weaker fintech print and South Africa slowdown as driven by temporary or deliberate actions rather than structural demand weakness. He also highlighted strategic priorities around restoring prepaid growth, launching a new fintech platform in Nigeria, maintaining capital discipline, and completing the IHS transaction.

Mupita, standing in for the absent CFO, walked through the financials and stressed the quality of earnings and cash conversion. He pointed to ZAR 3.9 billion of impairment on the 49% Irancell stake, hyperinflation and translation effects including South Sudan and Ghana, and said these were noncash items that bridge basic EPS to adjusted headline EPS of ZAR 7.93. He also cited strong operating leverage, with group expenses rising 13.3% versus 17.5% service revenue growth, cash upstreaming of ZAR 13.9 billion, capex of just under ZAR 20 billion in the half, and free cash flow conversion of 92.5% of reported profit after tax.

Analysts focused heavily on South Africa prepaid, Cell C, CapEx, tax contingencies, Ghana growth, buyback timing, and fintech guidance. Management said South Africa’s airtime advance penetration has been deliberately reduced, that it is now comfortable to start pushing extra time back into the market carefully, and that prepaid voice should improve over time; on Cell C, Ferdi Moolman said the relationship is healthy but gave no detail because of an NDA. On Ghana, Mupita said the next major growth vector is home connectivity via fiber and fixed wireless access, while on the buyback he said the ZAR 6 billion program runs through 2028 and the broker will execute against the mandate rather than a fixed aggressive timetable. On fintech, management said the biggest near-term uplift should come from restoring airtime advance in Nigeria, expanding advanced services, and growing lending over time.