SENS Note - 04 March 2015
MTN final results 31 December 2014
 
Revenue for the year ended 31 December 2014 increased to R146.9 billion (2013: R137.3 billion). EBITDA rose to R73.2 billion (2013: R60.4 billion), operating profit was higher at R49.6 billion (2013: R41.2 billion), while profit attributable to equity holders of the Company improved to R32.1 billion (2013: R26.8 billion). Furthermore, headline earnings per share grew to 1 536cps (2013: 1 411cps).

Declaration of final ordinary dividend
A gross year-end dividend of 800cps for the period to 31 December 2014 has been declared payable to MTN shareholders.

Prospects
In 2015, MTN expects to benefit from a number of interventions put in place in South Africa and Nigeria in the previous year. In South Africa, MTN expects to build on the positive momentum gained on revenue and subscriber additions in the second half of 2014. The South African operation will also accelerate its immediate capex plans to support our medium-term growth prospects, particularly in the data area. MTN Nigeria will focus on active subscriber management, providing more competitive offerings and improving data usage. MTN continues to engage positively with the regulator. However, in Nigeria some level of uncertainty remains with regards to the implications of the oil price and currency fluctuations, which may lead to slower economic growth. This may result in some headwinds for the business in 2015.

The company expects the large and small opco clusters to extend the progress shown during 2014 and here again the operations will continue to focus on non-voice revenue to drive sustainable growth, which is one of the Group's five strategic themes. In line with MTN's strategic theme to create and manage stakeholder value, the company will continue to evaluate shareholder returns through their progressive dividend policy of growing dividends by between 5% and 15% a year, as well as buying back shares on an opportunistic basis.

MTN remain committed to creating a distinct customer experience through increasing their 3G and LTE coverage and improving network quality and capacity. This is of particular importance in South Africa where MTN will be extending their capex programme significantly. MTN will continue to expand the measurement and use of their customer satisfaction index (via net promoter scores) and tailor-make their offerings to enhance their customer experience. To drive long-term sustainable growth across the Group, MTN will increase data revenue by encouraging uptake through increased smartphone penetration, competitive pricing, bundled services and increased speeds.

The continued rollout of MTN Mobile Money and broader financial services remains a priority with the widening of their distribution platform and the introduction of new products and services including micro lending, international remittances, retail payments and insurance. MTN continues to develop their digital offering through focusing on local content and working with other suppliers. Through their partnership with Rocket Internet AG they now have a platform that facilitates easier rollout. The company's enterprise business unit is well placed to provide innovative ICT solutions to corporate and SME customers, the public sector and financial services customers. In 2015, MTN will focus on becoming the ICT partner of choice to companies expanding into Africa; to governments seeking to improve engagement with their citizens; and to companies aiming to enhance their business offering.

Transforming the group's operating model through cost optimisation and increasing operational efficiencies remains another key strategic theme. Project Next!, MTN's back-office transformation programme, is starting to gain traction with the substantial migration of the back office functions in Ghana to the Shared Services Hub (SSH) during the year. The programme is planned to be rolled out in another two markets in 2015. The company will also continue to streamline costs in the distribution network in some of their key markets. The commercialisation of MTN's tower infrastructure is a major part of their efforts to optimise their network.

Innovation and best practice is another of the Group's strategic themes, and in this respect MTN aims to provide leadership to drive innovation throughout their businesses, capitalising on the opportunities they have identified. Linked to this are their efforts to ensure that every MTN operation is agile and shares best practices, including efficient go-to-market capabilities, to maintain a competitive advantage.
 
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