MTN Nigeria vests 3.77m shares worth N2.8bn to 106 employees

MTN Nigeria Communications Plc has vested 3,771,677 ordinary shares to 106 employees under its long-term incentive plans, according to a regulatory filing with the Nigerian Exchange.

The shares, transferred on March 31, were awarded under the company’s Employee Share Ownership Plan (ESOP) and Performance Share Plan (PSP). These schemes, introduced in 2022, reward staff for meeting service and performance targets without requiring any cash payment from employees or new share issuance that would significantly dilute owners.

Karl Toriola, chief executive of MTN Nigeria received the largest portion with 795,958 shares. Modupe Kadri, chief financial officer was vested 382,491 shares, while Lynda Saint-Nwafor, chief enterprise business officer got 178,092 shares. The three senior executives accounted for about 36 percent of the total vesting.

At the current share price of N740, the entire package is worth roughly N2.79 billion (about $1.7 million at current exchange rates). The company stressed in its filing that the transaction was not a purchase or sale on the open market.

MTN Nigeria, Nigeria’s biggest mobile operator with more than 80 million subscribers, uses the plans to keep key talent in a competitive market that includes Airtel Africa and smaller rivals. The PSP ties awards directly to business results such as revenue growth, customer numbers and efficiency targets. The ESOP covers a broader group of non-management staff.

The latest vesting follows similar exercises in 2025, when the company transferred about 1.3 million shares to 33 executives in March and another 536,000 shares to 31 employees in April. All vestings remain a tiny fraction of the company’s 20.97 billion shares outstanding, just 0.018 percent in this case, meaning dilution for existing shareholders is negligible.

Such moves as standard practice in the telecoms industry to align management interests with those of investors. MTN Nigeria shares closed at N740 on Thursday, up 0.42 percent on the day.

The stock has risen more than 40 percent so far in 2026, supported by strong subscriber growth and the company’s recent dividend payouts.The company is due to report first-quarter 2026 results later this month.