The shares of MTN Group plunged Thursday by as much as 23 percent to a nine year low, a day after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) ordered its Nigerian operations to repatriate $8.1 billion illegally sent abroad.
The demand by CBN is the latest setback for MTN in Nigeria, the South African group’s most lucrative but increasingly also its most problematic market. This comes two years after MTN, Africa’s biggest telecoms company, pleaded to pay more than $1 billion to end a dispute in Nigeria over distribution of unregistered SIM cards.
At 0940 GMT, MTN shares were down 21.4 percent at 84.35 rand, after touching 83 rand, a level last seen in 2009. The money is more than half of MTN’s market capitalisation, and analysts said the demand risks further undermining Nigeria’s efforts to shake off an image as a risky frontier market for international investors.
Denying the apex bank’s claim, MTN Nigeria’s Public Relations Manager, Mr. Funso Aina, announced in a statement that “MTN Nigeria strongly refutes these allegations and claims. No dividends have been declared or paid by MTN Nigeria other than pursuant to CCIs issued by our bankers and with the approval of the CBN as required by law.”