JOHANNESBURG, MARCH 2, 2017 – Africa’s biggest mobile phone operator MTN Group swung into a loss for the first time in two decades on Thursday, hit by a $1 billion regulatory fine in Nigeria and unfavourable currency swings.
MTN said its headline loss was 77 cents per share in the year to end-December compared with headline earnings of 746 cents per share a year earlier.
The company agreed to pay a fine of 330 billion naira ($1.1 billion), reduced from $5.2 billion, after a prolonged legal battle to end a dispute in Nigeria over unregistered SIM cards.
