Nicola Mawson
MTN, Africas largest cellular operator, said yesterday that it would report a headline loss per share of between 271c and 217c, while the basic loss per share would be between 434c and 383c for the half year to June.
The JSE-listed mobile operator said while it had encouraging results from both Ghana and Uganda with South Africa set to show encouraging progress in key areas the companys results were adversely affected by several factors, not least of these being further devaluation in the Naira against the dollar, which impacted MTN Nigerias financials.
MTN did note that Nigeria posted a strong underlying operational performance in its first half. The Naira devaluation will affect MTNs results by 90c a share, up from the 4c it reported in the prior comparative period.
The mobile company was also hit by the translation impact on its reporting currency of rand from others across its African operations due to the devaluation of most local currencies, as well as operational challenges in Sudan due to the ongoing conflict in the country.
