Still alive and kicking

2018 was a year to forget for MTN, but now it’s starting to get the basics right again and confidence is returning

You may have more success finding a live human being in an MTN call centre than seeing a bid of R263.44 for your MTN shares — the record high hit in September 2014 — again.

But for the first time in months, the market appears to have bought into MTN’S promise of higher growth and rising dividends, as well as a tougher line on Nigeria’s wayward regulators, who have done their bit to destroy investor confidence in the company since levying their first $5.2bn fine for unregistered SIM cards in 2015.

Last year was arguably even worse for MTN believers, after allegations that the cell operator had failed to pay more than $2bn in tax and had illegally repatriated funds from Nigeria, its biggest market.

The two charges led to the stock collapsing to R69, before recovering to end the year at R89.

“I know MTN was a really difficult ride for investors in 2018,” said CEO Rob Shuter on a call with analysts last week after the release of year-end results to December.

“I think Ralph [Mupita, the CFO] and I feel very responsible for that situation, though it was not all of our making. And you have our absolute commitment that we’re going to build the business … and we feel very comfortable about all the promises we’ve been making in the past 24 hours.”

Among those promises: double-digit growth in service revenue, fatter margins, a near-doubling in return on equity from 11% now, and progressively higher div-