MTN Ghana shareholders may soon receive dividends four times a year. The company's board has proposed a new plan to pay dividends more frequently. This change would allow shareholders to get payments every three months instead of just once a year. The proposal is part of the company's 2025 financial update.
This new plan shows the board wants to give more value back to people who own shares. It follows an update to the company's dividend policy. This updated policy lets Scancom PLC, the company behind MTN Ghana, suggest an interim dividend for the first three months of the year. Under this proposal, shareholders could get 6 pesewas for every share they own. All these plans need approval from the right government groups before they can happen.
The company has changed its rules so it can suggest paying dividends after looking at the results from every three-month period. This means interim dividends could be paid. However, paying dividends still depends on the company having enough cash. It also depends on how much profit is kept in the company, known as retained earnings. Following rules about loans and debts, called debt covenants, is also a condition. The plan is to pay out between 60% and 80% of the company's yearly profits as dividends. Shareholders can also vote to approve a final dividend at the yearly meeting.
For the first three months of 2026, Scancom PLC's board suggested an interim dividend of GHS0.03 per share. Mobile Money Fintech Limited, another part of MTN, also suggested a GHS0.03 per share dividend for the same period. Both these payments are waiting for shareholder approval. The company expects to pay these dividends on June 18, 2026.
MTN Ghana had a very good start to 2026. Profit before taxes went up by more than 48%. This profit reached GHS3.5 billion. Revenue for the first three months of the year was GHS7.2 billion. The company paid GHS1 billion in taxes to the government. This was more than a 50% increase in taxes paid. Money from Mobile Money services was GHS1.7 billion during this period.
Income from selling internet data grew significantly. It rose by over 52% to GHS4.2 billion. This growth happened because more people are using data. The number of active data customers increased by 16% over the previous year. This brought the total to 20.6 million users. These customers also used more data. Usage went up by 40.9% compared to last year. Each active user now uses about 18.8 gigabytes of data each month. This increase in usage is due to more people watching videos, using social media, and online apps. Better network quality and data plans also helped.
As a result, the total amount of data used on the network increased by 63.4% compared to the same time last year. Data services now make up 59.0% of MTN's total service revenue. This is up from 52.6% in the first three months of 2025. The growth in data is helping the company earn more money.
Mobile Money services are also performing well. Revenue from Mobile Money reached GHS1.7 billion. This was helped by more people using both basic and advanced services. The number of active Mobile Money users grew by 4.0% from the previous year. This brought the total to 18 million users. Revenue from basic Mobile Money services, like sending money and withdrawals, went up by 21.9% year-on-year. This was mainly because of more withdrawals, which increased by 6.4% to GHS711 million. Transfer service revenue also grew by 65.2% to GHS397.4 million.
Even with this strong growth, Mobile Money's share of the total service revenue changed. It went down from 24.9% in the first quarter of 2025 to 23.6% in the first quarter of 2026. This happened because revenue from data services grew even faster.
Stephen Blewett, the Chief Executive Officer of MTN Ghana, said the company's strong performance in the first quarter shows good planning. He mentioned that progress in data, Mobile Money, phone calls, and digital services drove these results. Investments in the network, new technology, and partnerships also helped. These efforts allowed the company to keep growing. They also reinforced MTN Ghana's role in helping more people access digital services and financial tools.
Mr. Blewett also stated that total service revenue increased by 35.7% year-on-year during the quarter. He added that this revenue growth, combined with careful management of costs and a positive business environment, led to a 42.9% increase in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA). EBITDA is a measure of a company's operating performance. The EBITDA margin, a measure of profitability, improved by 3.1 percentage points to 61.2%. He believes this performance proves the company is financially strong and its strategies are working.
“This performance highlights our ability to deliver sustained value,” Mr. Blewett said. “We remain confident in our ability to deliver on our ambition, supported by a resilient operating model, a strong market position and a clear focus on long-term, sustainable value creation for shareholders and other stakeholders.”