(Bloomberg) -- MTN Group Ltd., Africa’s biggest wireless carrier by revenue, posted its first loss since 2016 after the devaluation of the Nigerian naira crimped income from one of its key markets.
The group reported a loss of 7.39 billion rand ($414.7 million) in the six months through June, compared with 4.14 billion rand profit a year earlier, it said in a statement Monday. The loss is MTN’s first since it paid a fine of more than $1 billion imposed on the company by the Nigerian government.
The Nigerian naira has slumped more than 70% against the dollar since President Bola Tinubu came to power in May 2023 and began implementing foreign-exchange and other economic reforms. MTN has about 77 million customers in Nigeria and historically derives about a third of its earnings from Africa’s most-populous nation.
“Naira volatility is nearer term, and the inflation cycle in Nigeria is expected to peak in the third quarter, early fourth quarter,” MTN Chief Executive Officer Ralph Mupita said in a Bloomberg TV interview.
Currency devaluations in other markets, including South Sudan, also impacted MTN’s earnings in the period.
MTN shares rose 0.8% to 89.32 rand as of 3:03 p.m. in Johannesburg.
In Iran, another major MTN market, the group has about 3 billion rand in dividends that it’s unable to repatriate due to US sanctions, Mupita said. The company owns 49% of MTN IranCell, one of the nation’s largest wireless carriers, and a stake in Snapp, a local ride hailing service.
MTN expanded its total number of customers by 0.8% to 288 million, despite its exit from Afghanistan and the ongoing conflict in Sudan leading to a decline of users there.
The company is looking to exit Guinea Conakry and Guinea-Bissau and has an offer from Telecel to acquire its local units, according to Mupita. It also plans to reduce its stake in the Nigerian business to as low as 65% through sales to local shareholders, he said.
MTN currently controls 73% of the Nigerian business, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Future growth for the group is expected to come from its data and fintech businesses, according to Mupita. MTN is also planning to carve out its infrastructure businesses, particularly in fiber.
“That will create an opportunity of co-investment with third parties to accelerate investment in infrastructure,” Mupita said.
--With assistance from Andre-Pierre Du Plessis.
(Updates with CEO comments starting in the fourth paragraph.)
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