Picture: BLOOMBERG/WALDO SWIEGERS
The Nigerian attorney-general has demanded that Africa’s biggest telecom company pay the tax bill relating to the import of equipment and payments to foreign suppliers from 2007 to 2017. MTN has argued that the claim is without merit and that the attorney-general exceeded his powers in making the request.Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation rose 39.3% to 460.1-billion naira , with data revenue rising 34.9% year on year during the period, the company said.
Peter Takaendesa, a portfolio manager at Mergence Investment Managers, said MTN Nigeria’s numbers have “remained strong and largely in line with company guidance of double-digit service revenue growth as well as profit margins expanding further. In a separate announcement, MTN said its operations in Ghana reported a 1.1% increase in subscribers to 21.6-million. Ebitda grew 63% to 1.875-billion Ghanaian cedi , with profit after tax up 4.8% to 689-million Ghanaian cedi for the period.