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Nigeria’s foreign exchange difficulties have significantly impacted MTN Nigeria Plc, as evidenced by its audited results for the year ending December 31, 2023.
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The company reported a loss before tax of N177.8 billion in 2023, a stark contrast to the pre-tax profit of N518.8 billion recorded in 2022, or the Profit After Tax (PAT) of N348.7 billion reported the previous year.
Attributing the loss to the devaluation of the Naira, Nigeria’s currency, MTN Nigeria Plc stated on the Nigeria Exchange Limited (NGX) that “the significant devaluation of the naira in 2023 resulted in a materially higher net forex loss of N740.4 billion (compared to N81.8 billion in 2022), reflected within net finance costs, which led to a reported loss after tax of N137 billion, contrasting with a restated PAT of N348.7 billion in 2022.”
This marks the first time the company has reported a loss since becoming publicly traded in Nigeria. The 2023 performance mirrors the MTN Group’s first annual loss in two decades, which occurred in 2019 due to a regulatory fine of N330 billion ($1.1 billion) in Nigeria and an unfavorable currency regime.
In 2015, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) fined MTN N1.04 trillion ($5.2 billion) for failing to deactivate unregistered SIM cards. However, the operator later negotiated the fine down to $1.1 billion from the initial $5.2 billion.
