MTN Nigeria’s profit after tax rose 55.3% to ₦1.17 trillion in the nine months to September 30, 2026, up from ₦750.19 billion a year earlier, according to the earnings release the company published on October 30. Revenue grew 23.6% to ₦4.61 trillion, and the biggest driver was data, which brought in ₦2.68 trillion, 35.8% more than in the same period of 2025.
The figure that says most about how Nigerians use their phones sits further down the release. MTN’s 57.2 million active data users each consumed an average of 15.3GB a month, 16.2% more than a year ago, while its total subscriber base grew 10.9% to 94.7 million. Those results land in the same week that MTN’s chief executive and his counterparts at Airtel and Glo are due before the House of Representatives over network quality, as we reported when the Reps set Wednesday as their deadline.
Data now earns MTN almost twice what calls do
Voice revenue grew more slowly, rising 11.1% to ₦1.50 trillion over the nine months, so data now brings in close to twice as much as calls. The gap widened again in the third quarter, when data revenue rose 31.4% to ₦981.4 billion against voice revenue of ₦503.3 billion, up 9.3%. Total third-quarter revenue reached ₦1.62 trillion, 19.7% higher than a year earlier, and profit after tax for the quarter was ₦457.6 billion.
Chief executive Karl Toriola said MTN “delivered a very strong third quarter, reversing the temporary slowdown in Q2”, and described growth as “increasingly volume-led, driven by more users, deeper data adoption, higher usage”. In plain terms, more of MTN’s money is coming from more people using more data, which is consistent with that 15.3GB monthly average.
Borrowed airtime and data took a hit, then bounced back
Not every line went up. MTN’s fintech revenue fell 25.9% to ₦97.5 billion over the nine months, and the company linked the drop to the temporary suspension of its airtime and data credit service between April and June 2026. After the service returned under a multi-partner model, fintech revenue rose 78.5% in the third quarter compared with the second, so borrowing airtime and data is back in heavy use.
If you rely on borrowed airtime or data, that three-month gap is a reminder that the service can disappear for a while when MTN reorganises it. Keep a small airtime buffer of your own for calls you can’t afford to miss, rather than counting on a loan being available at the moment you need it.
What a ₦1.17tn profit should mean for your network
Toriola’s comments tied MTN’s growth to investment in network coverage, capacity and quality, and that’s the standard subscribers will hold the company to. Lawmakers have pressed operators over dropped calls and slow data since October, and the NCC has already required MTN to credit some customers for poor service, which we explained in our guide to MTN’s poor-network compensation. Stronger profits make it harder for any operator to argue that it can’t afford to fix weak coverage.
For your own line, 15.3GB a month is a useful yardstick. If you’re buying far more than that and still running out, look at background apps, auto-updates and video quality before upgrading your plan, and our walkthrough on finding what’s eating your data shows where to check. Comparing your usage with MTN’s own average is a quick way to tell whether you need a bigger bundle or just tighter settings.
