MTN shares slide on Iran concerns
Shares in JSE-listed mobile operator MTN Group declined in excess of 2.9% in afternoon trade on Wednesday amid concerns over new tensions between Iran and the US.
The US Congress granted President Barack Obama the power to impose sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme with further sanctions urged by the EU. Sanctions would block payments for the Middle Eastern country’s crude oil.
A local dealer at Thebe Stockbroking told MyBroadband: “There is some uncertainty over the current situation in Iran which is having an impact on MTN shares.” He noted however, that MTN had performed well in recent sessions with some profit taking also a possibility. “The drop today is exacerbated by uncertainty in Iran,” he added.
Having opened at R143.93 on the JSE on Wednesday, shares in MTN slipped R4.18 to R139.75 on the JSE in afternoon trade. Shares in MTN Group had moved from approximately R127 in late September 2010 to in excess of R145 at the start of January 2012.
For the quarter ended 30 September 2011 MTN Group recorded 158.59 million subscribers with Iran at 33.314 million subscribers.
In August, MTN reported group revenue for the interim period to R56.5 billion mainly due to strong growth in MTN’s South African and Iranian operations of 5.9% and 12.1% respectively.
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