NCC Crumbles MTN, Reports its First Ever Loss

Africa's biggest mobile phone operator MTN Group Ltd cut investor payouts by almost 50% as it reported its first-ever half-yearly loss on Friday.

MTN said in Johannesburg that the loss was due to a deadly blow unethically thrown at them from a hefty regulatory fine in Nigeria.

And the biggest contributor to the decline was MTN’s agreement to pay a record N330 billion ($1 billion) fine in Nigeria, the company’s largest market. The penalty was levied in October after MTN missed a deadline to disconnect unregistered subscribers, and the subsequent loss of customers further hurt operations in the country.

MTN said the fine, a third of the proposed initial penalty, wiped 10.5 billion rand ($768 million) from their headline earnings, South Africa's main measure of profit.

MTN also said the results were affected by unfavourable currency swings, underperformance in its home market and in Nigeria where it had to cut off another 4.5 million SIM cards to comply with local registration requirements.

This kind of blow is heavy enough to kill a business… Take one seconds to say a word of prayer for MTN Telecom company.