Following the announcement of MTN Group’s full year financial results for the year ended 31 December 2015 last week, the company has expressed concern about reports on its financial position and potential listing of shares in Nigeria.
MTN Group is listed in the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, and the statement attributed to Executive Chairman Phuthuma Nhleko incorrectly indicated that MTN Group was planning to cross-list in Nigeria.
The correct position, as Chris Maroleng, Corporate Affairs Executive at MTN Group explains, is that the South Africa-based operator is considering listing MTN Nigeria, its Nigerian subsidiary, and not the MTN Group as a whole. Reports of a planned secondary listing in Nigeria are therefore misleading.
Approximately 10% of MTN Nigeria’s shareholding is available for over-the-counter trading.
There have also been reports suggesting that MTN has $US22bn ‘stuck’ in Nigeria. In reality,the amounts involved are far less. MTN Nigeria currently has the cash equivalent of approximately R24.6bn (US$ 1.59 billion), with some R26.2bn (US$1.69 billion) in debt implying a net debt position of R1.7bn (US$ 0.11 billion).
MTN currently operates in 22 countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, with with a subscriber base of 232.5 million users as at December 2015. The statements come in the shadow of MTN’s $5.2 billion fine from the Nigerian government following the operator’s failure to deactivate the lines of 5.2 million customers who had not registered their lines with the Nigerian Communications Commission.
