When a company’s chief financial officer spends over ₦1 billion of personal capital to buy shares, the market tends to pay close attention.
Modupe Kadri, the executive director and chief financial officer of MTN Nigeria Communications Plc, did precisely that across two consecutive trading days in Lagos.
A regulatory filing with the Nigerian Exchange Limited showed Kadri purchased 1,313,732 ordinary shares across 13 separate tranches at varying price points.
This was not a routine allocation from the company’s equity incentive plan or a token director position acquired for corporate governance optics.
The filing confirms Kadri deployed roughly ₦1.03 billion on the open market using his own money over the span of just 48 hours.
The question for investors watching from the sidelines is difficult to ignore: what does the person with the clearest view of the books see?
What the NGX filing shows about the MTN Nigeria CFO’s ₦1bn purchase
Kadri purchased the 1,313,732 shares at an aggregate average price of ₦782.39 per share across transactions executed on June 16 and June 17, 2026, the filing confirmed.
The filing, signed by company secretary Uto Ukpanah, classified the purchase as an “Initial Notification” under the NGX Issuers’ Rules on June 18, 2026.
Individual tranches ranged from 695 units at ₦792.20 per share to 544,136 units at ₦770, the single largest block in the disclosure document.
Other substantial blocks included 261,000 units at ₦756 per share, 155,787 units at ₦798.10, and 97,198 units at ₦795, the filing showed.
Under NGX regulations, listed companies must promptly disclose transactions involving company shares by directors and key management personnel, Nairametrics reported.
MTN Nigeria’s record Q1 2026 earnings fueled a 56% stock rally this year
The share purchase comes after MTN Nigeria posted its second-strongest quarterly profit since listing on the exchange in 2019, the company’s earnings release showed.
Pre-tax profit reached ₦546.42 billion for the first quarter ended March 31, a 169.6% surge compared to the same period in 2025, Nairametrics reported.
Revenue hit a record ₦1.498 trillion, climbing 41.6% year-on-year, while data revenue jumped 56.2% and fintech revenue rose 77.9% during the quarter, MTN Nigeria’s Q1 2026 earnings release confirmed.
Earnings per share surged 166% to ₦16.95, representing nearly 30% of the company’s full-year 2025 EPS in a single quarter, Nairametrics reported.
“Despite a challenging cost environment, strong operational discipline kept operating expenses well contained, delivering meaningful operating leverage. EBITDA increased by 68.1%, and EBITDA margin expanded by 8.7 percentage points to 55.3%.” — Karl Toriola, CEO, MTN Nigeria, via Nairametrics
MTN Nigeria’s stock opened 2026 at ₦511 and has since climbed to approximately ₦800, delivering a 56.6% year-to-date gain and a market capitalization of roughly ₦16.8 trillion, Investing.com data showed.
The stock reached a 52-week high of ₦915 on May 4, 2026, and the company ranks as the third-largest on the NGX by market capitalization, BusinessDay reported.
Why analysts still see upside for MTN Nigeria stock heading into H2 2026
CardinalStone Research maintained a Buy rating on MTN Nigeria in March 2026, projecting earnings per share of ₦80.84 backed by 30.4% revenue growth expectations, Nairametrics reported.
The firm cited higher margins and lower finance costs as tailwinds that should sustain the stock’s momentum through the remainder of the year.
Five analysts currently hold a Buy rating on MTN Nigeria stock, with an average 12-month price target of ₦884.11 as of mid-June 2026, StockAnalysis.com data indicated.
That target implies roughly 10.5% upside from the stock’s last traded price of ₦800, even after shares have more than tripled since early 2025.
Kadri’s purchase fits a broader pattern of insider buying across major Nigerian listed companies during the first half of 2026, Billionaires.Africa reported.
MTN Nigeria commands approximately 38% of Nigeria’s mobile telecom market and serves over 80 million subscribers across voice, data, and digital financial services, the company’s investor relations page confirmed.
The company sits on the NGX’s Premium Board alongside Dangote Cement and Airtel Africa, and its South African parent MTN Group has called Nigeria its most important market.
The company’s 2025 full-year results showed revenue of ₦5.2 trillion and profit after tax of ₦1.1 trillion, reversing a ₦399 billion loss posted in 2024.
That turnaround came on the back of foreign exchange gains, tariff adjustments, and rapid growth in data and fintech revenue streams, Cowry Asset Management noted.
Key details from the MTN Nigeria CFO share purchase filing
- Buyer: Modupe Kadri, Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer
- Total shares purchased: 1,313,732 ordinary shares
- Average price per share: ₦782.39
- Total transaction value: Approximately ₦1.03 billion
- Transaction dates: June 16 and June 17, 2026
- Number of separate tranches: 13
- Price range: ₦755.10 to ₦798.50 per share
- Classification: Initial Notification under NGX Issuers’ Rules
- Filed by: Uto Ukpanah, Company Secretary, June 18, 2026
- Source: Nigerian Exchange Limited regulatory filing
