MTN Eyes 200m Subscribers by Mid-2013

*Sifiso Dabengwa

MTN Group expects to have 200 million subscribers on its network by the middle of the year, according to Agency reports.

MTN Group CEO, Sifiso Dabengwa said at an MTN AGM that the telecom company had increased its subscriber base to 197.4 million in the four months ended 30 April.

Dabengwa said MTN expected to deliver improved organic growth in revenue and EBITDA during 2013. The group's revenues had grown by 5.6 percent year-on-year in the four months to end April. Rand-reported revenues were up 15 percent year-on-year and were driven by a weaker rand against the dollar, while local currency revenues were down marginally year-on-year.

Dabengwa said that, despite the larger-than-anticipated cut in termination rates in Nigeria, the group remained comfortable with its guidance on MTN Nigeria's revenue and EBITDA margin for the full year.

Meanwhile, MTN South Africa's performance was hit by weaker consumer demand and increased competition, but it maintained its relative revenue share in the first four months of the year.

The group's operations in Iran, Ghana, Sudan and Uganda showed healthy growth in both revenue and subscriber numbers for the period. Group data and SMS revenue continued to expand strongly in most markets, increasing their contribution to total group revenue to about 18 percent.

Dabengwa stated that the implementation of cost-optimisation initiatives would remain a key priority for the group in the year ahead.