MTN’s shares dip below R80 for the first time since November
MTN said headline earnings per share in 2018 would be between 80% and 90% higher than in 2017
MTN’s shares dipped below the R80 mark on Friday — for the first time since November — after the group’s profit guidance for the year ended December 2018 fell short of expectations. The stock was down 4.7% at R79.62 on Friday morning, its worst level in more than five months. After the market’s close on Thursday, the mobile operator said headline earnings per share (HEPS) in 2018 would be between 80% and 90% higher than in 2017, or between 328c and 346c. Analysts had expected a higher increase, given that the numbers were coming off a low base. MTN said HEPS would have been 220c better were it not for a handful of once-off, non-cash items, including a regulatory fine in Nigeria. Earnings were dented by hyperinflation adjustments, net foreign exchange losses, and a payment to the Central Bank of Nigeria, MTN said. The group’s full results are due on March 7. The operator’s shares crashed in the second half of 2018 when it was slapped with a $2bn tax claim from Nigeria’s attorney-gene...
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