MTN Group: Shares soar on Nigerian poll outcome

MTN Group, Africa’s biggest wireless operator, increased the most in almost five years after former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari won a largely peaceful vote in Nigeria, the South African company’s biggest market. The shares advanced as much as 6.6 percent, the most since May 2010, and traded 5.6 percent higher at R216.45 as of 1pm on the JSE. That pared the year’s decline to 2.2 percent, valuing the company at R400 billion. The stock closed 5.85 percent up at R217. Nigerian stocks rose the most in five years and bonds rallied after Buhari defeated President Goodluck Jonathan, the first victory over an incumbent since independence from the UK in 1960. Nigeria’s all share index jumped 8.3 percent to 34 388.03 in Lagos, the biggest gain since March 2010 and the highest level since January 5. “Nigeria has gone through a democratic process which re-enforces the country’s outlook,” Bruce Main, a money manager at Ivy Asset Management, said. “There is confidence that there are not going to be any major legislative changes. That’s good news for a company like MTN, which gets a huge portion of earnings from Nigeria.” – Bloomberg