MTN Ghana to pay GH¢983.2million total dividend for 2020

MTN Ghana is expected to pay investors an amount of GH¢0.08 per share for 2020 after it posted GH¢ 1.4 billion in profits after tax.

The Board had earlier declared an interim dividend of GH¢0.03 per share (GH¢368.7 million) after the company’s first-quarter results in 2020.

However, after reviewing the full-year performance of the company, the Board has recommended a final dividend of GH¢0.05 per share (GH¢614.5 million), bringing the total dividend for the 2020 year to GH¢0.08 per share amounting to GH¢983.2million.

This represents 70.5% of profit after tax and a 33.3 per cent increase in dividend per share over the amount paid in 2019 financial year.

The company’s directors will be recommending this to the shareholders at the annual general meeting to be held on May 25, 2021.

If approved, the dividend will be transferred electronically to the bank accounts or mobile money wallets of shareholders on Friday, June 4, 2021.

This is subject to deduction of the appropriate taxes.

MTN Ghana said there was no change in the 12.29 billion ordinary shares issued as at 31 December 2020.

All shareholders registered in the books of Scancom PLC at the close of business on Friday, 14 May 2021 qualify for the final dividend.

Consequently, an investor purchasing MTNGH shares before Wednesday, 12 May 2021, will be entitled to the final dividend.

However, an investor buying MTNGH shares on or after Wednesday, 12 May 2021 will not be entitled to the final dividend.

2020 performance

Service revenue went up by 16.4% to GH¢5,9billion as subscribers also increased by 23.4% to 24.4 million to firm their grip on the largest share of users in Ghana.

Active data subscribers soared by 32.4% to 10.8 million, just as active Mobile Money (MoMo) users rose by 16.3% to 10.6 million.

The firm paid over GH¢1 billion in taxes to the government.

“We will remain within our service revenue growth target band of 13% to 15% and employ prudent cost strategies to continue to improve our margins and further ensure growth in our bottom line,” MTN Ghana stated in its audited reports for the year ended December 31, 2020.

Future plans

MTN Group said it remains committed to its agreement with the Government of Ghana to sell down a further 12.5% of its investment in Scancom PLC, with a focus on local shareholding.

This will increase to 25% other shareholdings in Scancom PLC.

In accordance with the Payment Systems and Services Act, 2019 (Act 987), MobileMoney Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Scancom PLC, is required to localise 30% of its shareholding as part of Bank of Ghana’s (BoG) licence requirements.

The BoG has extended the deadline, to meet this requirement, to 15 January 2022.