KEY POINTS
- MTN Group raises its annual dividend 45 percent to R5 per share for full-year 2025.
- Headline earnings per share jumped more than tenfold to R12.74 from R1.10 in 2024.
- Nigeria’s January 2025 tariff adjustment and currency recovery drove the turnaround.
MTN Group handed shareholders a significantly larger payout Monday after one of the most dramatic earnings recoveries in its recent history, declaring a final dividend of R5 per share for the year ended December 31, 2025, up 45 percent from R3.45 the previous year.
The MTN Group dividend Nigeria story runs deeper than the headline payout. Reported headline earnings per share surged more than tenfold to R12.74 from R1.10 in 2024, and operating free cash flow climbed nearly 82 percent to R57 billion. Net debt to earnings fell sharply to 0.3 times from 0.7 times a year earlier, giving the group considerably more room to return cash to shareholders and pursue buybacks.
Nigeria and Ghana carry the recovery
Group CEO Ralph Mupita pointed to disciplined capital allocation and sustained network investment as the engines behind the numbers. “Operationally, we delivered strong growth in earnings, free cash flow and improved returns,” he said.
The MTN Group dividend Nigeria rebound traces directly to two of the group’s most important markets. Recovering currencies in Nigeria and Ghana gave the business meaningful top-line relief after a bruising 2024, while a January 2025 tariff adjustment in Nigeria added further revenue momentum.
Service revenue rose 23 percent to R218.5 billion across the group, and data revenue jumped nearly 38 percent to R101.5 billion as mobile connectivity demand kept accelerating. Fintech revenue also pushed higher on growing mobile money transaction volumes across MTN’s African footprint.
Buyback plan and shareholder returns framework
The board approved an enhanced shareholder remuneration framework targeting annual distributions of 40 percent to 60 percent of equity-free cash flow, combining dividends with potential share repurchases. MTN may buy back up to R6 billion worth of shares over the next three years, subject to shareholder approval.
According to Billionaires Africa, Mupita flagged the Middle East conflict as a risk worth watching, noting its potential to ripple through supply chains, energy prices, and currency markets. MTN holds a non-controlling stake in Iran’s Irancell but said it had no visibility into those operations and no personnel on the ground. The MTN share price has fallen close to 10 percent over the past week, though it remains up more than 60 percent over the past year.
