The Board Chair of MTN, Ishmael Yamson, is backing the performance of the share price of the largest telecoms operator to bounce back having recorded a decline of about eight percent in the year-to-day value from 75 to 69 pesewas.
His assurances came after shareholders at the company’s AGM demanded the company improves its performance.
According to him, the general performance of the economy is linked to the performance of the Ghana Stock Exchange adding that a sustained improved economic performance will bode well for the local bourse.
“When a country’s interest payments burden begins to grow, it affects the economy and subsequently impacts on areas like the stock exchange. I pray that going forward, we will be prudent in managing the economy and more cautious in adding more debt to the country’s debt portfolio because that has an impact on the confidence of investors,” he remarked.
Mr. Yamson, however, touted MTN’s sustained performance and was hopeful it should rebuild confidence among shareholders: “The company has to ensure that it manages its assets properly and to deliver strong profits and that is evident in our first quarter results for 2019.” he said.
2018 financial performance
In 2018, MTN’s profit after tax increased by five percent.
The figure increased from GHS718.51 million cedis in 2017 to GHS754.67 million in 2018.
For the same period, the company equally increased its capital expenditure by ten percent; from GHS751.69 million to GHS825.19 million.