MTN swings into loss making territory over Nigeria fine

MTN has said that it will report losses in its 2016 half year- earnings.

MTN records first ever loss in history, blames it on NCC fine | TheCable https://t.co/zH2s56qGwK pic.twitter.com/T87oXNChhM— TheCable (@thecableng) August 4, 2016

Africa’s biggest mobile operator on Thursday released a breakdown of the interim head loss that it expects to report on Friday, due to the hefty 330 billion naira ($1 billion ) Nigeria fine and weaker earnings in its home ground, South Africa.

MTN Nigeria was fined for failing to disconnect more than 5 million unregistered sim cards.

According to a statement, the firm indicates the loss will be between 2.85 rand and 3.15 rand per share in the six months ending June.

Analysts say the stock has lost as much as a third of its value in the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, after the fine was levied in October and is currently still 30% below its level when the penalty was announced.

Incoming CEO, Rob Shutter, has a tough task in turning around the Nigeria business which is MTN’s leading market in Africa.