Telecommunications giant MTN Ghana, for the year 2020 recorded Ghs 1.3 billion in total profit.
The recorded profit represents a 38.4% year-on-year growth when compared to profit recorded for 2019.
Out of the Ghs 1.3 billion profit recorded for last year, MTN Ghana has declared a Ghs 0.08 pesewas per share dividend for its shareholders.
The final Ghs 0.08 pesewas dividend declared at the company’s first virtual Annual General Meeting (AGM) amounts to Ghs 615 million and accounts for 47.3 percent of the total profit made for 2020.
Dividends payment for the year 2020 represents a 33.3 per cent increase in dividend per share for over those paid in 2019. Per the company’s 2020 Financial Statement, total revenue was Ghs 6 billion, a 16.4% increase over that of 2019.
MTN Ghana last year increased its subscriber base by some 23.4 per cent to 24.4 million with active data subscribers increasing by 32.4 per cent to 10.8 million.
Active Mobile Money (MoMo) users also increased by 16.3 per cent to 10.6 million. The company’s digital revenue however declined by 6.2 per cent year-on-year.
Speaking at the virtual AGM, CEO of MTN Ghana, Selorm Adadevoh, noted that 2020 was a challenging year for all businesses due to the outbreak of Covid-19, but MTN focused on supporting its staff, customers and government through various interventions.
Some interventions for its staff he noted was the Covid-19 impact initiative dubbed “Yello Hope” which focused on ensuring the health and safety its staff reflected the comprehensive measures put in place to facilitate remote work while making sure that workers delivered on targets.
According to him, MTN additionally implemented a daily life monitoring program to ensure that workers who needed any special help got it.
“For our customers we collaborated with Bank of Ghana to provide free person to person mobile money transfers of up to GHC100 a day and that that saved customers up to Ghs 94 million in transfer fees,” he said.
He said the measure also prevented face to face interaction and deepened financial inclusion, adding that the free transfer offer has been extended until further notice.
To the government, he said MTN zero rated visits to several government sites where individuals could access health and other vital information, plus it donated Ghs 5 million worth of PPEs and other vital equipment to government for the benefit of frontline health workers.
“We also donated 87,000 boxes of face masks to 31 health facilities and there is more support ongoing via the $25 million the MTN Group has offered to the African Union for the Covid-19 fight,” he intimated.
In a related development, MTN for the first quarter of the year has been the single most traded stock on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) in both volume and value.
In terms of volume and value, MTN stocks have accounted for 86 percent and 77 percent respectively.
Per the figures available, trade volume on GSE over the period was 256,053,128, out of which MTN stocks commanded a whopping 220,114,42, while the total value of trade over the period stood at Ghs 222.6 million, with MTN stocks alone accounting for close to Ghs 171.7 million.
