Nigerian woes fail to halt MTN surge
MTN says its earnings in the year ended December will nearly double, despite run-ins with regulators in its biggest market, Nigeria.
The mobile operator said after the market’s close that headline earnings per share for the year would be between 80% and 90% higher than in 2017, or between 328c and 346c.
These numbers would have been 220c better were it not for a handful of one-off, noncash 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 mobile operator’s shares crashed in the second half of 2018 when it was slapped with a $2bn tax claim from Nigeria’s attorney-general, and a separate demand from the central bank that it return $8.1bn worth of dividends.
The company ultimately reached a settlement with Nigeria’s central bank in late December with the $8.1bn claim being reduced to $53m.
MTN said in its update on Thursday that after the resolution of the dispute, its Nigerian business had resumed dividend payments to its shareholders.
“We are encouraged by the progress made and we are looking forward to sharing our full results on March 7 2019,” said MTN CEO Rob Shuter.
In response to the Nigerian attorney-general’s demands, the network operator has said its tax affairs are up to date.
Shuter said in late December the company had not made any provision for extra taxes. “We are not going to be putting any contingent liabilities in — we will simply be making our case that our tax affairs are up to date.”
WE ARE NOT GOING TO PUT CONTINGENT LIABILITIES IN — WE WILL SIMPLY MAKE OUR CASE THAT OUR TAX AFFAIRS ARE UP TO DATE
CFO Ralph Mupita said at the time MTN planned to list its Nigerian business by the end of May. The operator, which owns about 78% of the Nigerian business, agreed to a listing as part of an earlier settlement over its failure to disconnect unregistered SIM cards.
MTN’s shares closed at R83.52 on Thursday, 1.1% lower on the day.