Mobile telecommunications operator MTN planned to grow its subscriber numbers by a further 20-million this year, with the majority of this growth expected to come from Nigeria and Iran, CEO Phuthuma Nhleko said on Thursday.

Presenting the group’s results for the year ended December 31, 2009, he noted that the group had still managed to perform satisfactorily in an “extremely challenging year when many things aligned to make life difficult”.

Its subscribers grew by 28% to 116-million, while the group had also managed to maintain, or improve, the market share of most of its operations, with the exception being South Africa.

Revenues improved to R111,9-billion, up 9,2% on the revenues of R102,5-billion earned the year before, while its earnings, excluding special items, increased by 6,7% to R46,1-billion, compared with R43,2-billion the year before.

MTN’s net profit increased only marginally to R17,2-billion.

Nhleko noted that the strength of the rand and the weakening of a number of other currencies, including the Nigerian naira, the Ghanaian cedi and the Iranian rial, against the dollar, had negatively impacted on the group’s results, as about 80% of the group’s earnings were derived from outside South Africa.

Group finance director Nazir Patel noted that MTN had recorded a functional currency loss of R3,2-billion in 2009, compared with a R2,4-billion gain in 2008.

However, the strength of the rand had impacted positively on the group’s capital expenditure (capex) in 2009.

MTN’s capex rose by 10,6% to R31,2-billion in 2009, in what was expected to have been the peak year of its capex spend, said Nhleko.

This amount would have been higher in rand terms if not for the strength of the rand.

MTN was planning to spend a maximum of R23,6-billion in capex this year, mostly in areas where it saw the greatest potential for growth, such as Nigeria and Iran.

Further, Nhleko pointed out that the group had seen enormous competition in 2009, while there had also been significant intervention from regulators in terms of interconnection rates and the need to register SIM cards, in a number of its operations, which had put some pressure on these operations.

The South African operations had had a particularly tough year.

The operations had seen disappointing prepaid growth, as a result of the implementation of the new Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-Related Information Act, or RICA, legislation.

Given the local economic slowdown, postpaid revenue per user had also declined.

“For the first time we have seen MTN really struggling with its operations in South Africa. Regulatory risks have been a key factor impacting the company’s performance. Interconnection fee cuts and subscriber registration have dampened both revenue and subscriber growth,” consultancy firm Frost & Sullivan ICT industry analyst Spiwe Chireka commented.

However, he expected the mobile operator to see a recovery in the coming 12 months, saying that mobile operators’ short term revenues tended to suffer following interconnection cuts, but operators could make a full recovery through strategies such as increased subscription charges, lower subsidies and reduced incentives for distribution.

Further, Chireka noted that the 2010 FIFA World Cup would likely boost revenues for MTN through airtime sales, roaming fees and match content delivery.

Meanwhile, Nhleko said that the group would likely finalise details of a proposed black economic-empowerment transaction by the third quarter of this year, at the latest, but would not be drawn on the exact size of the deal.