MTN Ghana eyes quarterly dividends after strong Q1
MTN Ghana shareholders may soon be collecting dividend payments four times a year, a shift that would mark a significant change in how the telecommunications giant returns value to investors, pending the necessary approvals.
The proposal, outlined in the company’s 2025 financial statements, is anchored in a revised dividend policy that now permits Scancom PLC to recommend and declare interim dividends after each quarterly result. For the first quarter, the board has put forward a payment of 6 pesewas per share, with Scancom PLC declaring an interim dividend of GHS0.03 per share and Mobile Money Fintech Limited recommending an equal GHS0.03 per share, both subject to shareholder approval and expected to be paid on June 18, 2026.
The revised policy ties any dividend payment to cash availability, retained earnings, and compliance with debt covenants, with a payout ratio set at between 60% and 80% of annual profits. Shareholders will also retain the ability to approve a final dividend at the Annual General Meeting.
The timing of the proposal is backed by a first quarter that gave the board every reason to be confident. MTN Ghana closed the January to March 2026 period with profit before tax surging more than 48% to GHS3.5 billion, while total revenue reached GHS7.2 billion. The company also paid over GHS1 billion in taxes to the state during the period, a year-on-year increase of more than 50%.
Data was the engine behind much of the growth. Revenue from data services climbed over 52% to GHS4.2 billion, driven by a 16% rise in active data customers to 20.6 million and a 40.9% jump in usage per active user. Data traffic grew by 63.4% year-on-year, with the company attributing the surge to rising adoption of video streaming, social media, and digital applications. Data’s share of service revenue expanded to 59% from 52.6% in the same period last year.
Mobile Money also held its ground, generating GHS1.7 billion in revenue on the back of 18 million active users, a 4% year-on-year increase. Basic services revenue rose 21.9% to GHS1.1 billion, with transfer service revenue posting a particularly sharp 65.2% climb to GHS397.4 million.
MTN Ghana CEO Stephen Blewett credited the performance to focused execution across the business.
“Sustained momentum across our core business lines, data, Mobile Money, voice and digital services, supported by ongoing investments in network capacity, platform innovation and growth in ecosystem partnerships,” drove the results, he said.
He added that service revenue grew 35.7% year-on-year, and that disciplined cost management helped push EBITDA up 42.9%, with the EBITDA margin improving by 3.1 percentage points to 61.2%.
“This performance highlights our ability to deliver sustained value,” Blewett said. “We remain confident in our ability to deliver on our ambition, supported by a resilient operating model, a strong market position and a clear focus on long-term, sustainable value creation for shareholders and other stakeholders.”
Source: myjoyonline.com
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