MTN’s share price has plummeted this week, following the news that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) imposed a fine of 1.04 trillion naira (around R71 billion) on MTN Nigeria.
The fine was imposed because MTN Nigeria did not disconnect 5.1 million subscribers as required by the country’s SIM registration rules.
MTN said the “fine relates to the timing of the disconnection of 5.1 million MTN Nigeria subscribers, who were disconnected in August and September 2015”.
The fine is based on a fine of 200,000 naira for each unregistered subscriber who was not disconnected.
MTN Nigeria said it is in discussions with the NCC to resolve the matter. However, investors continued to drop MTN shares after the statement from the company.
On 26 October, when the news broke, MTN’s share price declined from a high of R192.95 to a closing price of R167.
The decline did not stop there, and the share price dropped to R155.85 at the end of business on 28 October.
This means MTN’s market cap declined from over R350 billion on Monday morning to around R288 billion at close of business on Wednesday.
MTN was asked for comment regarding the fine in Nigeria, but the company did not respond.
