MTNN Raises N125bn CP To Boost Working Capital

MTN Nigeria Communications (MTNN) Plc has raised N125 billion through issuance of commercial papers to boost its short-term working capital and funding requirements.

In a notice to the Nigerian Exchange Limited signed by the company’s secretary, Uto Ukpanah, said, it had completed the Series 4 & 5 Commercial Paper issuance under its N150 billion Commercial Paper issuance programme.

The notice revealed that MTN Nigeria sought to raise N100 billion, and the transaction was 125 per cent subscribed, with N125 billion raised.

The commercial papers included a 188-day CP at a yield of 11.00 per cent and 267-day commercial paper at a yield of 12.50 per cent. The CP Issuance was completed on March 1, 2023.

The company for the year ended December 31, 2022 proposed a final dividend of N10 per share to be paid out of distributable net income. This brings the total dividend for the year to N15.60 kobo per share, an increase of 18.9 per cent, delivering economic value to our shareholders.

In addition, MTNN said, it is exploring a scrip dividend option as an alternative form of shareholder return to a cash dividend, subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals.

On 2023 outlook for the Company, chief executive officer of MTNN, Karl Toriola said that “our operating environment continues to experience headwinds from the ongoing global macroeconomic and geopolitical volatility, putting increased financial pressure on our customers and business.

“Despite the challenges, we will continue to invest in the resilience of our business, taking advantage of opportunities embedded within our connectivity and platform businesses. We will continue to ramp up gross connections and implement our NIN recovery initiatives to grow the subscriber base. This will be supported by an aggressive pursuit of our rural telephony programme to expand broadband access and drive further digital inclusion,” he pointed out.

He added that, “we will continue accelerating 4G and 5G coverage to accommodate the demand for data while pursuing our home broadband strategy to capture a significant share of market growth. We plan to achieve 83 per cent 4G population coverage in full year 2023 while continuing to roll out additional 5G sites and bring the 5G network experience to more smartphone users.”

According to Toriola, accelerating the growth of our MoMo PSB remains a key focus as we execute our fintech strategy. “Accordingly, our immediate priority is to reopen the NIBSS interface for outbound transfers and scale commercial activities focused on growing active wallets while continuing to enhance our governance framework and control environment.

“Over time, we will leverage our market-leading distribution to evolve the mix towards more advanced services across our fintech verticals, in line with our Ambition 2025 strategy,” he noted.