MTN Group Posts 18–23% Underlying EPS Growth Despite Iran Write-Down
MTN Group's underlying earnings per share grew between 18 and 23 percent, with analysts noting the Iran investment write-down masks the operator's stronger core performance. The results provide a fuller picture of Africa's largest telco's financial health following the profit-warning disclosed earlier this week.
MTN Iran: the valuation problem is solved; the rest isn't
Strip out the Iran impairment and MTN's core business is genuinely performing — 18–23% underlying earnings growth, with Nigeria, Ghana and Uganda all contributing.
But as the legal exposure underneath the write-down makes clear, closing the accounting gap on Irancell and resolving what it actually costs MTN are two entirely different things.
The numbers today look better than the headline. Whether they look better in two years depends on questions no earnings release can answer.
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- Africa: Iran Writedown Masks MTN Group's Underlying Earnings Growth · allafrica.com · T3