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Johannesburg - Sub-Saharan Africa's biggest cellphone operator MTN said on Wednesday first-half earnings rose by 75% and subscribers increased by 20%.
MTN said earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose to R15.2bn while adjusted headline earnings per share for the six months to end-June rose to 324.7 cents, just above a Reuters forecast of eight analysts of 320c.
MTN said group subscribers increased to 48.2 million.
MTN said its Investcom unit - which operates in war-scarred countries including Afghanistan and Sudan - recorded subscriber growth of 28% to 10.8 million, contributing 22% of group total subscribers.
Its Irancell operation added 1.8 million subscribers to reach a total of 1.98 million, having forecast 5.5 million subscribers for its full year.
Nigerian subscribers rose 14% to 14 million, while South African subscribers rose 7% to 13.4 million.
The firm said first half-revenue rose 69% to R34.2bn, with Investcom contributing 21% to revenue and accounting for 35% of the revenue growth.
Nigeria and South Africa recorded increases of 51% and 15% respectively.
MTN said the combined average revenue per user (ARPU) for both contract and prepaid subscribers in South Africa fell 9% to R149 from R164.
Nigerian ARPU slipped to $16 from $18 in the previous period.
By 09:20, MTN was trading 1.15% lower at R100.82, compared with a 1.25% fall in the JSE blue chip top-40 index.
- Reuters