South Africa-based regional mobile operator MTN Group said that net profit rose 1.2% in the first six months of this year to ZAR4.43 billion (USD297.5 million) from ZAR4.38 billion, but warned that lower wholesale revenue in its home market could \u2018be a drag\u2019 for the remainder of the year. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation rose 10% year-on-year, the company said, as first-half revenue increased to ZAR72.51 billion from ZAR62.78 billion in 1H18. The company noted that it has added a net 7.7 million subscribers since the start of the year, taking its group total to over 240 million. MTN Group\u2019s share price has also recovered after being affected by demands from regulators in Nigeria. The operator has resolved a dispute with the country\u2019s central bank, but is reportedly \u2018yet to settle a disagreement over allegedly unpaid taxes with the auditor-general\u2019.<\/p>\n
MTN Group\u2019s South Africa business reported lower margins in the six months under review after being forced to write off as much as ZAR393 million owed by struggling rival Cell C for network roaming services. MTN said service revenue in South Africa increased by 3.3% y-o-y, but EBITDA grew by just 0.2% to ZAR7.5 billion as margins fell. The South African unit\u2019s half-year performance was also adversely impacted by new regulations aimed at curbing out-of-bundle tariffs and \u2018adjustments required due to delayed payments under the network roaming agreement with Cell C,\u2019 MTN said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
South Africa-based regional mobile operator MTN Group said that net profit rose 1.2% in the first six months of this year to ZAR4.43 billion (USD297.5 million) from ZAR4.38 billion, but warned that lower wholesale revenue in its home market could \u2018be a drag\u2019 for the remainder of the year. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":10689,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,31],"tags":[771,551,592,556],"class_list":["post-13968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-miscellaneous","tag-central-bank","tag-internet","tag-mtn","tag-south-africa"],"yoast_head":"\n