MTN’s shares rose 1.5% to 81.11 rand after Shuter’s comments, paring the decline since the crisis erupted to 25%.
The impasse has at least temporarily derailed MTN’s plans to sell stock in its Nigeria unit in Lagos, and that’s contributed to the share price drop, according to Shuter. “While we are committed to a listing, this has complicated the process. A resolution will help to get the listing on the way,” he said at a telecommunications conference.
MTN pledged to list in Lagos as part of a settlement of an earlier fine for missing a deadline to disconnect customers without proper registration. The stock is down by more than 50% since the start of that first dispute in 2015, which also led to an overhaul of management and Shuter’s arrival from Vodafone.
Earlier on Tuesday, Shuter indicated that he had no intention of walking away from Nigeria, announcing plans to seek a mobile-banking license in the country. Africa’s most populous nation is MTN’s biggest market with more than 64 million customers, and the company reported a margin of 43% on its Nigerian earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization in the third quarter.
-Bloomberg