Nigerian court adjourns MTN case until March
MTN is facing a $2bn tax demand in Nigeria
MTN’s court battle against Nigeria’s attorney-general, over a $2bn (R27bn) tax demand, is set to drag on. On Thursday, a Nigerian court postponed the case again, this time until March 26. The hearing was initially scheduled for November 8. The mobile operator, whose shares crashed in the second half of 2018 when it was slapped with the tax claim and a separate demand that it return $8.1bn worth of dividends, maintains that its tax affairs are up to date. While the company reached a settlement with Nigeria’s central bank in late December — the $8.1bn claim was reduced to $53m — the tax case remains an overhang on its share price, which lost 2.6% in Thursday afternoon trading. “We still remain a bit bewildered that the attorney-general would come in now and basically start trying to re-assess various tax matters that, in our opinion, are not part of his responsibility,” MTN CEO Rob Shuter said in a call with investors in late December. The company has not made any provision for extra ...
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