Since after listing in Nigerian Stock Exchange, telco giant, MTN Nigeria Communications Plc is on a loss spree sustaining the negative balance sheet trend with a loss of N7.5 billion in the first quarter of 2024.
The telco reported a loss after tax of NGN 7.5 billion for Q1 2024, marking a second consecutive quarter in the red.
Despite growing its service revenue by 32.0 per cent to N747.3 billion year-on-year, the telco recorded its second loss since it was listed on the Nigerian Exchange.
It disclosed this in its earnings statement for the first quarter of 2024.
According to MTN Ngeria chief executive officer, Karl Toriola, the current business environment in Nigeria is responsible for the losses which are now becoming the trend for the company, as “severe macroeconomic headwinds overshadowed a solid operating performance.”
The leading telecom firm noted that its net loss for the quarter further increased its accumulated losses and negative shareholders’ funds to N599.2 billion and N434.7 billion, respectively. It highlighted that its Profit after tax adjusted for the net forex loss declined by 57.8 per cent to N47.1 billion.
“Further adjusting for the impact of the naira devaluation in opex, PAT would have been down by 5.3 per cent to N105.6 billion,” MTN said.
The telco’s net foreign exchange loss stood at N656.37 billion.
Toriola said: “The operating environment in the first quarter remained very challenging, with rising inflation and continued naira depreciation off an already low base.”
He stated that the naira’s devaluation and record-high inflation have impacted the operating environment for businesses in Nigeria.
“These factors have caused significant difficulties for businesses operating in Nigeria, including MTN Nigeria, putting additional pressure on consumers, the cost of doing business, and further foreign exchange (forex) losses,” he added.
In 2023, MTN declared its first loss after tax of N137 billion. Its retained earnings and shareholders’ fund fell to negative N208.0 billion and N40.8 billion, respectively.
