MTN Nigeria Communications Plc has declared a loss of N392.69 billion for the 3 months ended 31 March 2024.
The telecom giant declared revenue of N752.983 billion for the 3 months period, up by 32.54% from N568.136 billion reported the previous year.
The Group declared loss after tax of N392.694 billion for the 3 months period as against the profit after tax of N108.433 billion reported in Q1 2023.
Earnings per share of MTN Nigeria stands at negative N18.70
At the share price of N202, the P/E ratio of MTN Nigeria stands at negative 10.80x with earnings yield of negative 9.26%.
According to MTN Nigeria CEO Karl Toriola, severe macroeconomic headwinds affected the Company’s performance in Q1 2024.
Karl Toriola stated thus:
“The operating environment in the first quarter remained very challenging, with rising inflation and continued naira depreciation off an already low base. The naira depreciated to an all-time low of N1,627/US$ at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) in March, from N907/US$ at the end of December 2023, before moderating to N1,309/US$ by the end of the quarter. Additionally, the inflation rate maintained an upward trajectory, rising to 33.2% in March, with an average rate of 31.6% in the quarter.
To curb inflation, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) increased the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) by 4pp to 22.75%, which has driven up funding costs. These factors have caused significant difficulties for businesses operating in Nigeria, including MTN Nigeria, putting additional pressure on consumers, the cost of doing business and further foreign exchange (forex) losses.