MTN profits halved – to cut dividend as shortfall for $3.9bn Nigerian fine

By John Bowker

(Bloomberg) — MTN Group Ltd. said it would cut the full-year dividend to a minimum of 7 rand this year due to uncertainty surrounding the payment of a record $3.9 billion fine in Nigeria and the lack of U.S. dollars in the country.

Africa’s biggest wireless operator will pay a dividend of 13.10 rand for 2015, 5.2 percent higher than the previous year, the Johannesburg-based company said in a statement on Thursday.

MTN sets aside $600 mln for Nigeria fine, FY profit drops

JOHANNESBURG, March 3 (Reuters) – South Africa’s MTN Group has set aside around $600 million to cover the potential settlement of a fine in Nigeria, it said on Thursday, as it posted a more than 50 percent drop in annual profit.

Africa’s biggest wireless phone company is in talks with Nigerian authorities to reduce a $3.9 billion fine imposed last year for failing to cut off unregistered SIM card users.

MTN said headline earnings per share (EPS) came in at 746 cents in the year to end-December compared with 1,536 cents a year earlier.

Headline EPS is the main profit measure in South Africa that strips out certain one-off items.

The company raised it annual dividend by 5.2 percent to 1,310 cents per share.