MTN Nigeria Slides, Trades at 33% Below 52-Week High
MTN Nigeria Plc witnessed another round of selloffs on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Wednesday as investors’ book early profit following its weak earnings performance. The telecommunications company’s share lost 2.67% due to selloffs from its shareholders, dragging its market valuation to N4.509 trillion.
The fallen angel in the equities market had risen to the top of the rank at N6.714 trillion in 2024before it reversed uptrend following weak earnings performance.
In the market, 2,818,570 shares of MTN Nigeria exchanged hands on Wednesday. The huge volume trade skewed to the sell side reduced MTN Nigeria market moving strength. The telecom had peaked at N319.80 early in 2024 due to strong buying interest anchored on expectation that earnings would remain impressive.
But, MTN Nigeria Plc suffered its worst nightmare in years due to damaging impacts of the naira devaluation on its FX liabilities.
The company is struggling to keep its house clean while FX loss persisted in the first quarter of 2024. This has forced management to devise strategies to reduce exposure, but analysts are expecting further FX losses to impact its earnings in the first half of 2024.
MTN Nigeria recorded significant rise in FX losses due to the further devaluation of the Naira. The company recorded FX losses of N656.37 billion in Q1 2024. The FX losses led to a pre-tax loss of N575.69 billion in the first three months of operation, compared with a pre-tax profit of N162.91 billion in Q1 2023.
Despite N183 billion tax credit, MTN Nigeria Plc recorded a net loss of N392.69 billion in Q12024,4 compared with a net profit of N108.43 billion recorded in Q1 2022. EPS declined to negative N18.63/s in Q1 2024 #MTN Nigeria Slides, Trades at 33% Below 52-Week High
