MTN Nigeria records N740bn Forex losses

Telecommunications giant, MTN Nigeria plc has reported a loss before tax of N177.8 billion compared to the pre-tax profit of N518.8 billion a year earlier.

It attributed the losses to foreign currency loss of n740 billion up from n81 billion reported in 2022.

This was contained in its audited financial report for the year ended december 31, 2023.

According to MTN, “the loss was significantly due to operational changes to the Nigerian Foreign exchange market, including the abolishment of the segmented/parallel structure announced by CBN in June 2023.”

MTN also disclosed that it has used an official, NAFEM, exchange rate of N907.11/$1 as of 31 December 2023 suggesting loss could be wider if the current exchange rate between the naira and dollar persist by the end of March when it publishes its Q1 results.

Meanwhile, selloffs in the shares of Dangote Cement, Conoil, MTN Nigeria, among others, on Friday, dragged the equity market’s performance indices down by 1.23 per cent to close the week’s trading sessions.