Increased adoption of data and financial services helped propel MTN Group service revenue in Q1, though CEO Ralph Mupita (pictured) cautioned inflation and geopolitical issues could have a moderate impact moving forward.

In a statement the MTN executive pointed to global issues continuing to affect currencies, asset prices and supply chains, alongside causing inflation in its markets.

MTN also expects its short-term figures to be impacted by planned additional investments in Nigeria to meet recently imposed SIM registration rules and costs of setting-up a new mobile banking service in the country.

Despite what Mupita described as a “challenging macroeconomic environment” in Q1, he praised MTN’s performance, pointing to increased service revenue and pre-tax profit margins.

MTN booked service revenue of ZAR45.7 billion ($2.8 billion), up 16 per cent year-on-year on figures adjusted to strip out currency fluctuations. Without the adjustment the rise was 9 per cent.

It does not provide net profit figures, though noted its pre-tax profit margin was 46.4 per cent compared with 45.8 in the same period of 2021.

MTN added its data revenue was up 37 per cent, while its top-line earnings from financial technology services increased 21 per cent.

Active data subscribers increased 13 per cent to 125.6 million. Users of its mobile money services hit 58.7 million, up almost 26 per cent.

In Q1 it processed almost $60 billion through its financial technology platforms, up 13 per cent.