MTN Group (MTN) Q3 2026 earnings summary

Executive summary

• 9M service revenue grew 17.2% in constant currency (CC), accelerating to 18.1% in September; EBITDA rose 22.9% CC and margin increased 2.8pp to 47.9%.

• Subscribers increased 7.2% to 322.9m; active data users rose 9.6% to 181.7m and data traffic grew 27.3%.

• Free cash flow was R22.4bn, R21.4bn was upstreamed, and net debt-to-EBITDA was 0.2x.

Financial highlights

• 9M service revenue was R176.2bn, up 17.2% CC and 9.9% reported; EBITDA before once-off items grew 22.9% CC and 17.7% reported.

• Data revenue grew 28.2% CC to R89.0bn, representing 50.4% of service revenue; fintech revenue rose 12.7% CC to R22.6bn.

• Q3 service revenue growth accelerated to 16.6% CC from 14.0% in Q2; quarterly EBITDA margin reached 48.2% in Q3.

• The rand averaged ~10% stronger against the US dollar, reducing the rand value of results from Africa ex-South Africa.

Outlook and guidance

• Medium-term targets remain service revenue growth of at least high teens, ROCE in the high-20s to low-30s, and leverage of 1.0x or lower.

• FY 2026 South Africa EBITDA margin guidance remains 35%–37%, excluding tower-disposal losses; Q4 seasonality and device mix may weigh on margin, and service revenue growth is expected below its medium-term range.

• FY capex excluding leases is expected within the US$2.0bn–US$2.5bn envelope.

• Nigeria reaffirmed medium-term service revenue growth of at least low-20% and EBITDA margin in the mid-to-high-50% range; Ghana expects FY service revenue growth in the low-to-mid-30% range.

• Fintech FY growth is expected below its medium-term high-20s to low-30s range; priorities include South Africa prepaid recovery, Airtime Advance rebuilding and IHS completion.