MTN
Group CEO Rob Shuter pointed to growth across Nigeria, Ghana and its
home market of South Africa in the first half of 2018, although the
company’s profit continued to be hit by outside influences.
The
operator group reported a drop of 5 per cent year-on-year in its H1
net profit to ZAR4.9 billion ($366 million) on revenue of ZAR62.7
billion.
Earnings
were heavily impacted by a 30 per cent decline in profit from its 49
per cent stake in MTN Irancell. This was partly due to a weakening of
the Iranian rial after the US announced in May it would reintroduce
sanctions on the country.
MTN
said the sanctions, the first wave of which came into effect this
month, may limit its ability to repatriate cash – including its
dividend – from the country going forward.
Aside
from issues in Iran, the group – which operates across Africa and
the Middle East – said it had suffered from challenging
macroeconomic conditions in South Africa and Cameroon during the
six-month period.
MTN
Group reported growth in service revenue driven by voice and data.
Its digital division revenue also expanded, by 7.6 per cent
year-on-year, largely based on an increase in mobile money usage.
Mobile
money revenue increased by more than 50 per cent year-on-year, with
24.1 million users subscribed to the mobile money service across 14
markets at end-June.
In
its earnings statement, Shuter said: “MTN had an encouraging first
half of 2018, with an acceleration in the second quarter, supported
by an improved operational performance across many markets. This was
led by Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa.
“Service
revenue growth increased, driven by robust voice revenue growth and
the continued expansion of data and digital revenue.”
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