MTN Group Limited
Five-Year
Five-Year Review
Review for
for the
the year
year ended
ended 31
31 December
December 2023
2023
Leading digital solutions for Africa’s progress
Five-year financial review
for the year ended 31 December 2023
Restated2
CAGR1 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019
Income statement % Rm Rm Rm Rm Rm
Revenue 10 221 056 207 003 181 646 179 361 151 460
Other income3 (32) 324 410 1 889 6 228 1 510
Operating expenses 4 11 (132 600) (117 574) (107 377) (104 278) (88 741)
EBITDA 8 88 780 89 839 76 158 81 311 64 229
Depreciation and amortisation 7 (42 268) (34 618) (34 640) (35 651) (32 458)
Impairment of goodwill – (625) (583) (1 065) (342)
Operating profit 10 46 512 54 596 40 935 44 595 31 429
Net finance costs 27 (39 069) (18 326) (14 448) (18 233) (15 184)
Finance income 13 3 055 2 042 1 198 1 493 1 873
Finance costs 7 (18 954) (14 313) (13 095) (15 189) (14 693)
Foreign exchange losses 77 (23 170) (6 055) (2 551) (4 537) (2 364)
Net monetary gain (1) 744 1 251 275 1 582 787
Share of profit of associates and joint ventures
after tax 50 3 581 3 369 2 054 1 142 705
Profit before tax (10) 11 768 40 890 28 816 29 086 17 737
Income tax expense 3 (7 751) (17 036) (11 822) (9 439) (6 908)
Profit after tax (22) 4 017 23 854 16 994 19 647 10 829
Profit after tax attributable to
– Equity holders of the Company (18) 4 092 19 037 13 750 17 022 9 100
– Non-controlling interests (75) 4 817 3 244 2 625 1 729
Headline earnings (9) 5 690 20 532 17 781 13 473 8 411
1
Compound annual growth rate.
2
Restated, refer to note 11 of the MTN Group Annual Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2023.
3
Includes a gain on disposal/dilution of investment in joint ventures and associates.
4
Includes a loss on deconsolidation of subsidiary.
EBITDA (R million) and EBITDA margin (%) Headline earnings and dividends per share (cents)
89 839
88 780
81 311
1 137
76 158
987
64 229
749
45.3
550
42.4 41.9 43.4 40.2
468
330
330
315
300
0
2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
● Dividends per share ● Headline earnings per share
● EBITDA ■
EBITDA margin
Five-Year Financial Review 2023 01
Five-year financial review
Five-year financial review continued
for the year ended 31 December 2023
Restated2 Restated2
CAGR1 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019
Statement of financial position % Rm Rm Rm Rm Rm
Property, plant and equipment 4 117 197 108 776 99 769 100 576 98 312
Intangible assets and goodwill 19 74 813 50 277 43 760 39 069 36 866
Right of use assets 2 48 207 44 095 36 825 46 156 44 984
Investments and other non-current assets (1) 38 793 37 455 38 389 42 681 40 797
Deferred tax assets 19 10 223 6 571 7 223 6 355 5 070
Mobile money deposits 35 50 173 39 273 38 869 28 008 15 315
Bank balances, deposits and cash 20 48 547 54 585 46 289 37 878 23 781
Other current assets 2 39 871 40 961 41 251 44 203 36 348
Non-current assets held for sale 69 6 890 3 358 7 291 4 016 838
Total assets 10 434 714 385 351 359 666 348 942 302 311
Equity attributable to equity holders of the
Company 13 139 205 114 488 109 181 102 873 83 897
Non-controlling interests 49 10 978 5 151 3 434 3 352 2 203
Total equity 15 150 183 119 639 112 615 106 225 86 100
Interest-bearing liabilities (3) 85 039 81 990 80 902 96 249 94 280
Lease liabilities 63 408 55 850 45 315 49 481 46 327
Non-interest-bearing liabilities 17 122 383 119 800 107 932 85 994 65 201
Deferred tax liabilities (14) 5 709 4 971 8 500 9 909 10 403
Liabilities directly associated with non-current
assets held for sale 7 992 3 101 4 402 1 084 –
Total liabilities 7 284 531 265 712 247 051 242 717 216 211
Total equity and liabilities 10 434 714 385 351 359 666 348 942 302 311
1
Compound annual growth rate.
2
Restated, refer to note 11 of the MTN Group Annual Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2023.
Total assets (R million) Equity (R million) and return (%)
139 205
434 714
385 351
114 488
359 666
348 942
109 181
102 873
302 311
83 897
16.8 18.4
14.4
10.0
4.5
2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
● Equity attributable to equity holders of the Company
■
Return on average shareholders’ funds
Five-Year Financial Review 2023 02
Five-year financial review continued
for the year ended 31 December 2023
CAGR1 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019
Statement of cash flows % Rm Rm Rm Rm Rm
Net cash inflows from operating activities 15 64 058 68 121 67 286 58 513 36 289
Net cash used in investing activities 21 (52 255) (43 436) (30 953) (33 512) (24 542)
Net cash used in financing activities 22 (9 485) (17 419) (26 179) (13 705) (4 340)
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents (25) 2 318 7 266 10 154 11 296 7 407
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of
the year 31 43 634 39 019 30 636 21 607 14 967
Exchange losses on cash and cash equivalents 59 (8 814) (2 105) (1 895) (2 143) (1 382)
(Increase)/decrease in cash classified as
held for sale – (583) (546) 124 ( 124) 615
Cash and cash equivalents at end of the year 14 36 555 43 634 39 019 30 636 21 607
Statement of cash flows – extracts
Cash generated from operations 14 93 127 94 247 88 670 78 580 55 197
Dividends paid to equity holders of the Company (11) (5 963) (5 414) – (6 462) (9 352)
Acquisition of property, plant and equipment 8 (32 187) (31 398) (24 413) (23 502) (23 416)
1
Compound annual growth rate.
Five-Year Financial Review 2023 03
Five-year financial review
Five-year financial review continued
for the year ended 31 December 2023
CAGR1 Restated2 Restated2
% 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019
Performance per ordinary share
Basic earnings (cents) (18) 227 1 054 763 946 506
Diluted earnings (cents) (18) 223 1 028 744 936 498
Headline earnings (cents) (9) 315 1 137 987 749 468
Dividends (cents) (12) 330 330 300 – 550
Net asset value – book value (rands)3 13 73.9 60.8 57.9 54.6 44.5
Returns and profitability ratios
Return on assets (%) 4 11.3 14.7 11.6 13.7 11.2
EBITDA margin (%) (1) 40.2 43.4 41.9 45.3 42.4
Adjusted free cash flow (5) 25 158 33 045 36 773 48 272 31 361
EBITDA multiple (times)5 (5) 2.9 3.0 4.7 2.1 3.5
Effective taxation rate (%) 14 65.9 41.7 41.0 32.5 38.9
Solvency and liquidity ratios
Gearing (%)6 (26) 24.3 22.9 30.7 55.0 81.9
Interest cover (times)7 3 2.5 3.8 3.1 2.9 2.1
Dividends cover (times) 8 3 0.9 3.3 3.1 N/A 0.8
Net debt to EBITDA9 (22) 0.4 0.3 0.5 0.7 1.1
Operating cash flow/revenue (%) 4 42.1 45.5 48.8 43.8 36.4
Share statistics
Closing price (cents per share) 9 11 550 12 730 17 071 6 019 8 249
Market capitalisation (Rm) 9 217 633 239 868 321 664 113 414 155 433
Definitions
1
Compound annual growth rate.
2
Restated, refer to note 11 of the MTN Group Annual Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2023.
3
Equity attributable to equity holders of the Company divided by the number of ordinary shares in issue at year-end.
4
Operating profit as a percentage of the average of the opening and closing balances of total assets.
5
Market capitalisation plus net debt (interest-bearing liabilities less bank balances, deposits and cash) divided by EBITDA for the year.
6
Net debt as a percentage of total equity.
7
Operating profit divided by interest expense.
8
Headline earnings divided by total dividend in respect of the applicable financial year.
9
Net debt at year end, divided by EBITDA.
Market capitalisation (R million) Closing share price (cents)
321 664
17 071
239 868
12 730
217 633
11 550
155 433
8 249
113 414
6 019
2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
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Five-year financial review continued
for the year ended 31 December 2023
CAGR
Non-financial information % 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019
Countries in which MTN has GSM licences 19 19 21 21
Subscriber numbers (million) (2) 19 289.1 272.4 279.6 250.8
Group entities (excluding joint ventures) 4 237.7 233.4 219.2 228.3 201.3
Joint ventures 4 57.1 55.7 53.2 51.3 49.5
Countries in which MTN has largest market share – 13 15 13 13 13
Total number of employees (2) 17 684 17 462 16 390 19 295 19 288
Group entities (excluding joint ventures) (2) 15 401 15 150 14 119 16 747 16 741
Joint ventures (3) 2 283 2 312 2 271 2 548 2 547
CO2 emissions from energy use (tonnes) 13 3 713 379 5 296 351 5 236 608 2 140 602 2 281 348
Operational information
South Africa
Mobile penetration (%) (1) 186 175 175 190 190
Market share (%) 1 29 31 30 30 28
Subscribers (million) 7 37 37 35 32 29
ARPU (ZAR)1 (3) 95 94 98 105 109
EBITDA margin (%) (1) 36 39 39 39 37
Capex/revenue (%) 5 30 36 21 17 25
Nigeria
Mobile penetration (%) 1 70 69 64 76 66
Market share (%) 2 52 51 51 49 49
Subscribers (million) 6 80 76 68 77 64
ARPU (US$)1 (6) 3 5 5 4 4
EBITDA margin (%) (3) 49 53 53 51 54
Capex/revenue (%) 2 23 25 25 22 21
Nigerian naira average foreign exchange rate 7 32.58 26.05 27.54 23.24 25.05
Nigerian naira closing foreign exchange rate 17 49.65 27.05 26.61 27.28 26.09
Ghana
Mobile penetration (%) (2) 111 132 125 125 118
Market share (%) 6 71 67 66 63 56
Subscribers (million) 8 27 29 25 24 20
ARPU (US$)1 (4) 4 2 5 4 4
EBITDA margin (%)2 4 58 57 55 53 51
Capex/revenue (%) 7 27 19 19 18 21
Ghanaian cedi average foreign exchange rate 14 0.64 0.54 0.40 0.35 0.38
Ghanaian cedi closing foreign exchange rate 13 0.66 0.62 0.40 0.40 0.41
1
Annual ARPU.
2
Excluding profit on tower sales.
Five-Year Financial Review 2023 05
Five-year financial review
Five-year financial review continued
for the year ended 31 December 2023
CAGR
Operation information % 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019
Iran
Mobile penetration (%) 3 145 143 138 135 129
Market share (%) – 43 43 43 43 43
Subscribers (million) 4 54 53 50 49 47
ARPU (US$)1 (5) 2 1 2 1 2
EBITDA margin (%) 2 41 42 36 37 38
Capex/revenue (%) 8 44 38 33 25 32
Iranian rial average foreign exchange rate 29 19 379 15 736 15 426 10 118 7 013
Iranian rial closing foreign exchange rate 27 21 372 16 914 15 392 17 459 8 121
Cameroon
Mobile penetration (%) (2) 75 75 77 77 80
Market share (%) 2 53 52 51 51 49
Subscribers (million) 2 11 11 11 10 10
ARPU (US$)1 4 4 4 4 3 3
EBITDA margin (%)2 6 38 36 35 32 30
Capex/revenue (%) 54 60 14 13 14 11
Cameroon Communaute Financière Africaine
franc average foreign exchange rate (5) 32.84 37.98 37.37 34.69 40.57
Cameroon Communaute Financière Africaine
franc closing foreign exchange rate (6) 32.45 35.93 36.15 36.42 41.78
Côte d’Ivoire
Mobile penetration (%) – 140 141 148 144 138
Market share (%) 4 39 39 36 34 34
Subscribers (million) 8 17 16 15 13 12
ARPU (US$)1 (8) 2 3 3 4 3
EBITDA margin (%)2 6 33 33 35 35 26
Capex/revenue (%) 49 66 21 14 12 13
Côte d’Ivoire Communaute Financière Africaine
franc average foreign exchange rate (5) 32.87 38.08 37.36 34.76 40.57
Côte d’Ivoire Communaute Financière Africaine
franc closing foreign exchange rate (6) 32.45 35.93 36.14 36.47 41.78
1
Annual ARPU.
2
Excluding profit on tower sales.
Five-Year Financial Review 2023 06
Five-year financial review continued
for the year ended 31 December 2023
CAGR
Operation information % 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019
Uganda
Mobile penetration (%) 8 68 62 60 59 50
Market share (%) 3 62 62 60 58 55
Subscribers (million) 12 20 17 16 14 13
ARPU (US$)1 (1) 3 3 3 3 3
EBITDA margin (%) 2 51 52 51 50 47
Capex/revenue (%) 11 26 42 20 16 17
Uganda shilling average foreign exchange rate (6) 202.47 225.50 241.06 225.45 256.68
Uganda shilling closing foreign exchange rate (6) 206.91 218.43 222.90 249.19 262.14
Sudan
Mobile penetration (%) (11) 39 60 63 65 63
Market share (%) (2) 32 34 34 35 35
Subscribers (million) (11) 6 9 9 10 9
ARPU (US$)1 4 2 3 1 2 1
EBITDA margin (%) (3) 31 53 52 43 36
Capex/revenue (%) (6) 18 31 23 15 23
Sudanese pound average foreign
exchange rate 82 34.14 33.51 25.07 3.32 3.14
Sudanese pound closing foreign exchange rate 94 45.60 34.03 27.47 3.76 3.23
1
Annual ARPU.
Five-Year Financial Review 2023 07
www.mtn.com
Tel: +27 11 912 3000
Innovation Centre
216 14th Avenue
Fairland, 2195
South Africa
