MTN Nigeria Declines by 7% on Significant Volume Action
MTN Nigeria Plc lost about 7% of its market value on Wednesday as investors trimmed their holdings in the telecommunication company’s shares.
Data from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) revealed that MTN Nigeria share price closed at N763 at 15.708 million units valued at N12.226 billion were transacted in the market.
Price retreated by 6.95% as sell-side actors dominated its huge trading volume. MTN Nigeria had peaked at N915 per share, its highest value in 52 weeks.
However, the telecom company share price has continued to decline as financial year 2025 and Q1 2026 earnings euphoria begin to fade.
At the close of the trading session on Wednesday, the market value of MTN Nigeria Plc.’s 20.995 billion outstanding shares declined to N16.019 trillion, data from the Nigerian Exchange confirmed.
The company is trading at a 16.61% discount to its highest valuation in the Nigerian stock market over the last 52 weeks. CardinalStone Securities Limited revised projections for MTN Nigeria Communications Plc following strong earnings performance in the first quarter of 2026.
Equity analysts at CardinalStone Securities have recently set MTN Nigeria’s target price at N1,011.63, keeping the investment firm’s BUY recommendation unchanged.
“Our adjustments principally revolved around the potential impacts of higher energy costs and the reductions in net debt position.
“While EBITDA margin is expected to be slightly lower vis-à-vis our previous estimate, the second-order effect of the latter should keep the net income margin mostly flat.
“We also highlight that the company’s deleveraging efforts are supported by its robust cash flow from operations, which rose by 73.3% year on year to N764.1 billion in Q1’26 – equivalent to 27.7% of the sum of N377.7 billion in gross debt and N2.4 trillion in lease liabilities as of Q1’26.
“All in, we remain optimistic on the company’s valuation. Our optimism reflects robust demand outlook, sustained network investments, and an overall reduction in business risk, driven by moderations in net debt and FX exposures”, the investment firm said.
