MTN shares fall on expectation of full-year loss

Telecommunications group MTN’s share price on the JSE fell by more than 6% on Wednesday morning after it announced it expects to report a headline loss a share and basic loss a share for the year ended December 31, as a result of a fine imposed on its MTN Nigeria business. The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in October 2015 fined MTN $5.2-billion over its failure to deactivate 5.2-million unregistered cellphone SIM cards by August 2015. After months of negotiations with the Nigerian authorities, MTN agreed to pay a $1.67-billion fine in tranches over three years.