MTN borrows N330bn to pay Nigerian fine

The MTN Group Limited has raised $1.3 billion loan with which to offset the N330 billion fine placed on it by Nigeria last year, so said a spokesman of the group, Sasha Naryshkine, in Johannesburg.

 

He said MTN is being provided with $1 billion and 4.8 billion rand from local and international banks and financial institutions, adding that the group would be on a road show in the United States and the United Kingdom soon to weigh investor appetite for debt securities.

 

Analysts say the fine had put a wedge on the telecoms giants expansion programme for 2016 since sacking its CEO in Nigeria and a number of its senior management staff.

 

Read also: How MTN sliced billions off its Nigerian telecoms fine- A Reuters Report

 

But the company said the move to attract funding came after the company this year posted its first-ever half-year loss, partly caused by an agreement to settle a record N330bn fine in Nigeria.

 

Its stock has declined by 29 per cent over the past 12 months amid concern over the penalty and a subscriber base of 233 million that did not grow in the six months through June.

 

MTN and its subsidiaries have $3.2 billion of debt and interest payments due by the end of July next year, including a $2.75 billion bridge-term loan, a 2 billion-rand senior unsecured loan and 1.25 billion rand of bonds.

 

 

 

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