MTN to report first full-year loss
Nigeria fine still haunts mobile operator as group restructures operations and installs new management
MTN’s share price slumped about 7% in early trade on Wednesday after the mobile network operator warned it would report its first full-year loss. The group blamed the multibillion-rand fine imposed by Nigerian legislators for flouting customer registration rules, losses from joint ventures and associates and poor performance from its two biggest operations in Nigeria and SA. MTN’s share price recovered to close 1.7% down at R115.75. Mergence Investment Managers portfolio manager Peter Takaendesa said the market reaction suggested the trading update was marginally lower than market expectations. MTN expects to report a loss in basic headline earnings per share and headline earnings per share for the 2016 financial year. In the 2015 financial year, MTN reported headline earnings per share of R12.04 and earnings per share of R7.46. The Nigerian regulatory fine is expected to have an estimated negative effect of 474c on earnings per share and headline earnings per share. MTN Nigeria’s f...
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