Africa’s biggest mobile network operator by sales, MTN Group Ltd, said it returned to profit in 2017, recovering from a $1 billion fine it paid for its Nigerian business in the prior period.
It expects to report a profit for the 12 months ended December 31, the Johannesburg-based company said in a statement Monday.
That compares with a headline loss of 0.77 rand a share and an attributable loss of 1.44 rand a share a year earlier, it said.
The company will give more information once it obtains more certainty on the profit range, it said.
MTN is working its way through a tumultuous period triggered by the imposed on it by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in October 2015.
Originally set at $5.2 billion, the penalty over failure to deactivate unregistered sim cards, led to the resignation of the CEO, Sifiso Dabengwa, and months of negotiations before it was eventually settled.
South Africa President, Jacob Zuma, discussed the fine with President Muhammadu Buhari when he visited Nigeria in March 2016.
