MTN Shares Drop to 5 Month Low

• MTN Shares Drop to 5 Month Low

MTN Group, African Telecommunication giant, suffers substantial sell-off after expected financial results came out below analysts’ projections.

The company had released its earnings expectation for the year ended 31 December 2018 on Thursday. According to the expected results, earnings were almost 50 per cent below analysts prediction.

Analysts had predicted that earnings per share will gain between 80 per cent and 90 per cent in 2018. However, the company’s forecast was far below their projection.

On Friday, during trading session in Johannesburg, the stock dipped 5.41 per cent from ZAR 8,352 it opened to close at ZAR 7,900, the lowest since September 14, 2018.

The company attributed the drop in earnings per share to a number of one-off and non-cash items totalling approximately 220 cents.

The telecommunication giant is however encouraged that post the resolution with the Central Bank of Nigeria, MTN Nigeria “has resumed dividend payments to its shareholders.”

Rob Shuter, MTN Group President and CEO said: “we are encouraged by the progress made and we are looking forward to sharing our full results on the 7 March 2019.”