Johannesburg – MTN Group, South Africa’s largest mobile operator by subscribers, said on Friday that it expected 2020 earnings close to double, mainly on gains from the sale of Uganda and Ghana tower joint ventures.
MTN is currently in the middle of a R25-billion divestment plan aimed at simplifying its portfolio over the next three to five years.
Part of this entailed selling its 49% holdings in Ghana Tower Interco and Uganda Tower Interco to AT Sher Netherlands Cooperatief for $523 million (R7.76 billion) last year.
MTN’s earnings per share (EPS) may have increased by as much as 95% to 987 cents in the year ended December 31 from 506cents a year ago, said the company in a statement ahead of the release of its annual results on March 10.
At 4.06pm shares in MTN were 6.68% firmer R70.57, a level last hit on December 10.
Headline earnings per share (Heps), the main profit gauge for South Africa firms, is seen rising as much as 70% to 796cents from 468cents in Dec 2019. It excludes certain one-off limits.
