Shares in MTN Group rose in Johannesburg on Monday morning after the telecommunications group issued a positive earnings update, though it provided no detailed guidance on the numbers.
It said in a statement on the JSE’s stock exchange news service that for the year ended 31 December 2018, it expects both earnings per share and headline earnings per share to be at least 20% better than the same period a year earlier.
MTN’s share price was trading 0.7% higher at 9.13am after touching R137.68 shortly after markets opened. The share has added 5.7% in the past 12 months, outperforming Telkom but largely tracking closest rival Vodacom.
In the 2016 financial year, MTN reported a headline loss per share of 77c and an attributable loss per share of R1.44.
“The negative performance in the prior comparable period was mainly as a result of non-recurring costs, including those related to the Nigerian regulatory fine and losses on MTN’s 51% equity interest in the Nigerian tower company,” it said.
“Both headline earnings per share and earnings per share for the 12-month period ended 31 December 2017 are expected to be positive and a further trading statement will be issued once the company obtains a reasonable degree of certainty as to the likely range within which the Heps and EPS are expected to be finalised.”
MTN said it will publish its full-year 2017 results on 8 March. — (c) 2018 NewsCentral Media
