Africa’s largest mobile carrier, MTN Group said it has regained its profitability position after one year of posting a full year loss.
The company said in a statement that:
MTN is currently in the process of finalising results for the 12 months ended 31 December 2017, which will be announced on the Stock Exchange News Service of the JSE Limited on Thursday, 8 March 2018.
“Shareholders are therefore advised that MTN expects to report an improvement of at least 20% in both headline earnings per share (HEPS) and earnings per share (EPS) for the 12-month period ended 31 December 2017, compared with a headline loss per share of 77 cents and attributable loss per share of 144 cents for the prior financial year”.
“The negative performance in the prior comparable period was mainly as a result of non-recurring costs, including those related to the Nigerian regulatory fine and losses on MTN’s 51% equity interest in the Nigerian tower company”.
“Both HEPS and EPS for the 12-month period ended 31 December 2017 are expected to be positive and a further 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”.
however, for shareholders, MTN warned that “The financial information on which this trading statement is based has not been reviewed and reported on by the external auditors of MTN.”
