Aggressive price competition, driven specifically by bonuses on recharge, freebies and other promotional activities, has seen MTN’s Nigerian operations negatively impact the Group’s overall margin performance, according to the company’s financial results for the year ended 31 December 2012.
The EBITDA margin, according to the report, declined by 3.4 percentage points to 58.3 percent mainly because of flat revenue and higher operating costs.
Another critical factor responsible for poor performance recorded in the Nigerian operations, according to the telecoms firm, was the rise in interconnect costs, driven essentially by an increase in off-network traffic.
The company further added that it has enjoyed an improvement in the fourth quarter, which it expects to continue during 2013.
For years, MTN Nigeria have contributed positively from a revenue perspective to the Group’s overall financial performance.
BEN UZOR JR
