MTN Group on Thursday reported a headline loss of 77c/share for the year ended 31 December 2016 as a perfect storm, headlined by a multibillion-rand fine in Nigeria, its biggest market, culminated in what it has described as the “most challenging” 12 months in its 22-year history.

Despite the problems — which included “material regulatory, macroeconomic and political challenges experienced across our regions”, the group said it “began to show the encouraging first signs of a turnaround”.

It has been a tumultuous 18 months for MTN, which saw the resignation of its CEO, Sifiso Dabengwa, and an almost wholesale replacement of its senior leadership team as it fought crises on multiple fronts.

A new CEO — former Nedbank, Vodacom and Vodafone executive Rob Shuter — starts work this month. Phuthuma Nhleko, MTN’s chairman and former CEO, has been standing in as executive chairman since late 2015 and will now revert to a nonexecutive role before stepping down from MTN entirely by the end of next year.

Key numbers from the 2016 results include:

Group subscribers increased by 3,3% to 240,4m;
Revenue increased marginally by 0,4% (2,9% if currencies had not fluctuated) to R146,9bn;
Data revenue increased by 16,7% (19,7% in constant currencies) to R39,6bn;
Voice traffic decreased by 1,7% and data traffic increased by 143%;
Ebitda (a measure of operating performance) decreased by 13,2% to R52bn;
Ebitda margin decreased by 5,5 percentage points to 35,4%;
Capital expenditure rose by 19,6% (28,7%) to R34,9bn;
A final dividend of R4,50/share, bringing the total for the year to R7/share (the minimum amount promised by Nhleko at the presentation of the 2015 financial results).

One highlight amid the gloom of the 2016 numbers is the fact that MTN has managed to repatriate R6,3bn from Iran, which equated to the entire amount due under the loan advanced for the operating licence fee in that country back in 2005, it said.

After the year-end, the operational dividends of the past five years due to MTN were paid by Irancell, its operation there, totalling €468m.

Growth in MTN Mobile Money was another highlight, with registered customers growing by 18,4% to 41m, supported by a strong performance from Ghana and Benin. The number of 30-day active customers increased by 55,3% to 15,4m across 15 countries, with revenue from the service rising by more than half to R2,8bn.

“Following the conclusion of the settlement agreement relating to the Nigerian regulatory fine in June 2016, the infusion of new senior management and the appointment of a new group CEO commencing on 13 March 2017, the MTN board of directors undertook a deep and fundamental strategic review of the business and its processes to ensure MTN is operating far more optimally in a complex and difficult operating environment,” it said in a note to shareholders.

“The outcome of this review illuminated areas of the business which required urgent attention. It also highlighted the company’s unique position in a fast-moving industry. As a result, the company embarked on a transformation initiative, Ignite, designed to optimise its operations and position the group most favourably to participate in a rapidly evolving sector.”

Towards the end of the year, MTN’s two largest operations — Nigeria and South Africa — “showed signs of a turnaround following an extended period of under-performance”.

MTN South Africa showed strong improvements in network quality and capacity. The operation significantly increased its net promoter score (NPS), particularly in the fourth quarter where it increased its NPS by eight percentage points to 81% when compared to the same period in 2015.

MTN South Africa’s Ebitda in the second half of the year increased by 31% (excluding the MTN Zakhele Futhi empowerment share-based payment expense) compared to the first six months of the year, where performance was poor.

And in Nigeria, despite the impact of regulatory and other challenges, the operation there “continued to improve its competitive position throughout the year”. This has continued into 2017, MTN said. However, the sharp depreciation of the naira against the US dollar has negatively impacted Ebitda margin and driven US dollar-linked costs higher.

MTN Irancell and MTN Ghana, its next most important markets, reported a “strong performance driven by data revenue growth”.