JOHANNESBURG — MTN Group (MTNJ.J), South Africa’s second-largest mobile phone company, fell short of expectations with a 2% rise in full-year profit yesterday, as foreign currency losses eroded profit from key markets like Iran.
Reuters
MTN said headline earnings for the year to end-December came in at 1,089.1 cents from 1,068.6 cents in the previous year. Reuters StarMine estimates predicted a 14% jump to 1,218 cents.
Headline earnings, the main measure of profit in South Africa, exclude certain one-time items.
The telecoms giant with business in 21 African and Middle Eastern countries increased subscribers by 15% to 189,3 million.
While still Africa’s largest mobile firm by subscribers, MTN has recently been eclipsed in market value by Vodafone unit Vodacom. Revenue rose nearly 11% to 135,1 billion rand ($15 billion).
