Business
MTNN Full-Year profit up by 39% to N202bn, declares N101bn dividend
Nigeria’s second-biggest company by market value, MTN Nigeria Communications Plc, has reported a 38.7% growth in bottom-line for Full Year 2019.
By this action, MTNN joins Dangote Cement Plc to become the two companies among the big 5 (the five biggest quoted companies in Nigeria) to have released their FY results for last year so far this year.
The comprehensive account of the telecom powerhouse is contained in MTN Nigeria Communications PLC Consolidated and Separate Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2019, published on the website of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) yesterday.
Revenue advanced by 12.57% from N1.039 trillion at FY2018 to N1.170 trillion in the corresponding period of last year.
MTNN’s Profit Before Tax (PBT) enlarged from N221.343 billion at FY2018 to N290.104 billion at FY2019, signalling to a 31.07% increase.
Profit for the Year grew by 38.7% to N202.111 billion at FY2019 from the N145.686 posted in the same period the year before.
The Earnings Per Share (EPS) of MTNN similarly responded to the positive drift, climbing up from N7.16 at FY2018 to N9.93 in the relative period of last year, a 38.7% growth as a matter of fact.
Ferdi Moolman, MTNN’s chief says “I am pleased with our performance in 2019, which demonstrates the progress we have made in the implementation of our BRIGHT strategy.” “Despite a challenging operating environment, we continued to deliver double-digit growth in service revenue in line with our medium-term guidance.”
In view of its performance, MTNN has declared a final dividend of N4.97 per share (translating to a total final dividend of N101.162 billion) for the year under review, subject to shareholders’ approval.
Last July, MTNN had declared an interim dividend of N2.95 per share and the newly proposed dividend brings the firm’s total dividend for 2019 to N7.92 per share, translating to a total dividend payout of N161.208 billion for FY2019.
Read also: Nigeria govt commits 90% of new $268 million fund to Agric; tech gets only 10%
The register of shareholders will be closed 20th April 2020 preparatory to the payment of dividend on 19th May 2020.
The qualification date has been fixed for 17th April 2020, meaning only shareholders whose names appear on the company’s register of members by this date will be eligible for dividend payment.
Potential investors willing to leverage the dividend payout should consider investing in the company’s stocks on or before this date.
With outstanding shares totalling 20,354,513,050, MTNN’s market capitalisation is about N2.239 trillion as of today.
Its dividend yield is 2.63% with a Price to Earnings (PE) ratio of 13.08.
MTNN is currently trading 12.8% below its fair value.
The firm debuted on the NSE last May by way of introduction, when it was admitted to its premium board.
MTNN, the Nigerian subsidiary of Johannesburg-based wireless carrier MTN, itself Africa’s largest telecom operator, has been embroiled in a couple of regulatory duels with Nigeria, its biggest and most problematic market over the years.
In 2015, it ran into a dispute with Nigerian authorities over laxity in its SIM registration process, causing the former not to meet the deadline set by the latter for disconnecting improperly registered SIMs.
The historic $5.2 billion penalty imposed for this infraction was later negotiated to $3.2 billion following frantic interventions by South African authorities, a development that prompted former President Jacob Zuma to meddle in the dispute.
MTN’s turbulent relationship with Nigeria took another worrisome dimension months ago over a legal wrangle bordering on tax evasion but succour came its way last month when Attorney General, Abubakar Malami, announced government had backed down on the $2 billion lawsuit and referred the case to tax bodies.
MTNN closed trade on the floor of the NSE yesterday at N110 per share.
Earnings Per Share is the profit that each unit of a company’s ordinary shares yields during a particular period. It is simply calculated by dividing the Profit After Tax by the company’s total outstanding shares. Increase in a company’s EPS often reflects an improvement in its bottom-line while a fall, on the other hand, indicates a declining profit.
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