MTN Nigeria said it deactivated 600,000 active subscribers in compliance with the directive of the Nigerian Communications Commission to deactivate partially registered SIM cards.

The telecommunication company recorded 61.6 million subscribers at the end of the third quarter, adding 100,000 users quarter on quarter, the Q3 unaudited financial report ended September 30, 2019 stated.

In the report published on Wednesday, MTN said service revenue increased by 12.1 per cent to N854.9bn, largely driven by increases of 10.1 per cent and 34.9 per cent, respectively in voice and data revenue.

The financial report stated that earnings per share rose by 29 per cent to N7.29 while capex increased by 39.5 per cent to N154.1bn

MTN said its fintech business gained traction with 21.7 per cent year-on-year growth in revenue, driven by increased adoption of the Xtratime service, allowing subscribers to borrow airtime.

The telco said it launched its super-agent services in August 2019 and recorded 66,000 registered agents.

Commenting on the performance of the company, the Chief Executive Officer, MTN Nigeria, Ferdi Moolman, said MTN recorded double-digit growth in service revenue despite the challenging business environment.

According to him, the telco added 1.6 million active data subscribers and 4G population coverage reached over 35 per cent in 64 cities.