Johannesburg - South Africa's MTN Group has set aside around $600 million to cover the potential settlement of a fine in Nigeria, it said on Thursday, as it posted a more than 50 percent drop in annual profit.
Africa's biggest wireless phone company is in talks with Nigerian authorities to reduce a $3.9 billion fine imposed last year for failing to cut off unregistered SIM card users.
Read also: Nigeria, MTN to begin new talks ‘soon’
MTN said headline earnings per share (EPS) came in at 746 cents in the year to end-December compared with 1 536 cents a year earlier.
Headline EPS is the main profit measure in South Africa that strips out certain one-off items.
The company raised it annual dividend by 5.2 percent to 1 310 cents per share.
REUTERS