MTN Nigeria took a hard hit in 2024, posting a N400.44 billion loss after tax, as the naira’s value crashed against the dollar. The company shared this tough news in its financial report on Thursday, showing a 192 percent jump from the N137.02 billion loss in 2023. With the naira dropping from N907 to N1,535 per dollar by December 2024, MTN’s foreign exchange losses ballooned to N925 billion, up from N740 billion the year before. For a telecom giant serving over 80 million customers, this currency mess wiped out profits big time.
Even with the bad news, MTN made more money overall revenue climbed 36 percent to N3.36 trillion in 2024, compared to N2.47 trillion in 2023. People kept using data and digital services like crazy, pushing sales up. But the forex losses were too much, dragging the company’s retained earnings down to a negative N607.5 billion. CEO Karl Toriola admitted it’s been rough with high inflation and shaky energy prices, but he’s proud of how MTN stayed strong and cut costs where they could.
Toriola also thanked the government for letting them adjust tariffs recently, saying it’s a lifeline for the business. Despite a tiny profit boost in their core operations N778.2 billion, up from N774.6 billion the forex disaster overshadowed everything. MTN, which started in Nigeria back in 2001, is fighting to bounce back and keep growing. With this tariff change, they hope to fix their money troubles and keep serving Nigerians better.