MTN Profit Gains as Data Revenue Offsets Nigerian Weakness

MTN Group Ltd., Africa’s largest wireless carrier, said full-year profit gained 8.9 percent as data revenue growth and a recovery in South Africa helped offset lower-than-expected sales in Nigeria, its biggest market.

Headline earnings per share, which exclude one-time items, were 15.36 rand in 2014, the Johannesburg-based company said in a statement on Wednesday. Sales increased 6.4 percent to 146 billion rand ($12.4 billion). Subscriber numbers are forecast to reach 240.9 million in 2015 across MTN’s 22 markets in Africa and the Middle East, an increase of 17.5 million customers.