MTN Group said it expects to report a loss per share for 2016 following the fine in Nigeria and after a weak first half in South Africa. In a trading statement, it told its investors it expects a loss in basic headline earnings per share (HEPS) and basic earnings per share (EPS) for FY 2016. For 2015, it reported positive HEPS of ZAR 12.04 and EPS of ZAR 7.46.
Another trading statement will be issued once the company obtains a reasonable degree of certainty as to the likely range within which the HEPS and EPS are expected to be finalised. It said the decline is a result of the fine in Nigeria, which is expected to have a negative impact of approximately ZAR 4.74 on HEPS and EPS.
Other contributing factors are foreign exchange losses in a number of operations, losses from joint ventures and associates, additional depreciation resulting from prior hyperinflation adjustments at MTN Irancell, the Zakhele Futhi tax, share-based payment charges and professional fees for the Nigerian regulatory fine and planned listing.
There was also an under-performance at MTN Nigeria and MTN South Africa in the first half of 2016. MTN Nigeria’s first-half performance was hit by the disconnection of 4.5 million subscribers in February 2016 in compliance with the Nigerian Communications Commission subscriber registration requirements. The withdrawal of regulatory services, which was resolved in May 2016, the weak economy and the depreciation of the Naira against the US dollar, also affected its performance. Consolidated results in rand terms from Nigeria were affected by the weaker Naira in the second half of the year.
MTN said the disappointing results from MTN South Africa in the first six months were largely due to the poor post-paid performance.
