MTN Nigeria Plc has reported a foreign
exchange, FX net loss of N887.6 billion in its operations for the first six months of 2024.
This represents a sharp increase of N433 billion or a 95.2 percent year-on-year (YoY) loss compared to the N454.6 billion recorded in the first half (H1) of 2023.
According to the result sent to the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) , the break down of the foreign exchange net loss, the company noted that foreign exchange losses accounted for N367.9 billion, while unrealised foreign exchange losses amounted to N519.7 billion.
Commenting on the impact of naira devaluation on the company’s earnings, Karl Toriola, chief executive officer (CEO) of MTN Nigeria, said despite the strong topline performance, “the higher general inflation and significant naira depreciation impacted our cost p profile and eroded earnings.EBITDA Came under pressure, declining by 10.9%, and the EBITDA margin decreased by 17.4pp to 35.6%. Adjusting for the effects of forex on our operating costs, the EBITDA margin would have been 50.9%.
“The depreciation of the naira between the periods ended December 2023 and June 2024 also resulted in materially higher net forex losses of N887.7 billion (H1 2023 restated: N454.7 billion), arising from the revaluation of foreign currency denominated obligations.
“This led to a loss after tax of N519.1 billion compared to the restated loss of N85.6 billion in H1 2023 and a negative retained earnings and shareholders’ equity of N727.2 billion and N577.7 billion, respectively.”
