Mobile Phone Operators’ Assets Rise By N80bn

The assets of the six mobile network operators in Nigeria increased by N804.09 billion or 0.38 per cent in 2019, the latest report by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) stated.

The 2019 Subscriber/Network Data Report stated that the total value of assets in the industry increased from N2.11tn in 2018 to N2.92trillion as of the end of 2019.

According to the report, MTN reported the highest value in assets in 2019 at N1.53trillion, indicating a 63 per cent increase from N939.56 billion reported in 2018.

The total value of Globacom’s assets as contained in the report as of the end of 2019 was N 598.17 billion, representing one per cent growth from N 592.08 billion in 2018.

Airtel Nigeria’s assets grew by 43 per cent in 2019 from N357.75 billion in 2018 to N510.99 billion as of the end of 2019.

EMTS that operates as 9 mobile grew its assets to N217.05bn in 2019 from N162.64 billion reported in 2018, recording 33 per cent growth in assets.

The report stated that Smile’s assets reached N22.9 billion as of the end of 2019, , growing by 0 .4 per cent from N 22.8 billion recorded in 2018.

However, Ntel recorded 11 per cent decline in the value of assets in 2019, from N34.23 billion in 2018 to N30.58 billion in 2019 .

The NCC report stated that the mobile operators as of December 2019 recorded a total revenue of N1.96 trillion as against N1.76 trillion recorded in 2018.

This reflects an increase of 11.01 per cent of total revenue recorded by the mobile network operators.

MTN recorded the highest revenue in 2019 at N1.17 l trillion while Ntel recorded the lowest sum of N4.61billion as of the end of 2019.

According to the report, EMTS recorded a decline of 18 per cent in revenue generated year -on -year, as the company’s revenue declined from N169.15 billion in 2018 to N138.67 billion as of the end of 2019 .

The report stated that the total operating cost of the mobile network operators declined from N1.40 trillion in 2018 to N1.39tn as of the end of 2019.

This indicates a slight reduction in operational cost of 0.53 per cent from the figures reported in 2018.

The NCC stated that the reduction in operating cost may have been as a result of investment in capital expenditure that was more efficient.

The industry regulator noted that Smile and Ntel recorded the highest percentage decline of 22 per cent and 16 per cent respectively in operating cost year-on-year.