MTN Reports $108 million Loss, First In 20 Years; Blame Nigerian Fine

Africa’s largest mobile phone company, MTN Group has announced a loss of R1.4 billion ($108 million) for the year ended 2016. The company blamed the loss on the N330 billion ($1.1 billion) Nigerian fine and unfavourable currency moves. This is the company’s first loss in 20 years.

Here are other highlights of the results;

• MTN said its headline loss came in at 1.4 billion rand ($108 million), or 77 cents per share last year, with headline earnings of 13.6 billion rand, or 746 cents per share, in 2015 (Reuters).
• The fine wiped off 10.5 billion rand ($768 million) – 500 cents per share – from the company’s 2016 headline earnings.
• Despite the losses, MTN said it will pay about 700 cents in dividends, a sharp drop from the 1,310 cents paid a year earlier.
• The share price rose 10% soon afterwards.