MTN Ghana Holds First Annual General Meeting

By G.D. Zaney, Esq.

Profit before tax of Scancom PLC (Mobile Telecommunications Network (MTN) Ghana) for the year 2018 increased by 16.5% to Ghc 1.6 billion while earnings per share was Ghc 0.067.

After reviewing performance for the 3rd quarter of the year, the Board of Directors of (MTN) Ghana declared an interim dividend of two pesewas per share while after a full year review, the company recommended a final dividend of three pesewas on ordinary shares, bringing the total dividend for the full year, 2018 to five pesewas per share or 81.2 percent of profit after tax.

According to Mr Ishmael Yamson, Chairman, Board of Directors, MTN Ghana, the share price of the company recorded a 5.33 % price gain for the year ended December 31, 2018, with a 52-week high and low of Ghc0.93 and Ghc0.75, respectively.

Mr Yamson, who was delivering the Chairman's statement at the maiden edition of the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of MTN Ghana in Accra on Tuesday, May 14, 2019, pledged the company's commitment to upholding high standards of corporate governance to drive sustainable growth, adding that the company would continue to embrace a culture of no tolerance for corruption through a robust management framework.

In a review of the company's performance for the year 2018, Mr Selorm Adadevoh, Chief Executive Officer, MTN Ghana, disclosed that the company reported a strong performance for the year, with service revenue increasing by 23.5%, driven by the strong growth in voice, data and digital revenue (which includes Mobile Money).

Mr Adadevoh indicated that data revenue grew by 30. 2% Year on Year (YoY)while digital revenue increased by 34.6%, within which Mobile Money revenue grew by 60.3% YoY.

He said the reported Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA)margin declined YoY by 2.2 percentage points to 37.6, following the introduction of the management free agreement, effective May 1, 2018.

He pledged the commitment of MTN Ghana to maintaining its relevance and to keeping up with the dynamism of the telecommunications industry, adding that the company's focus would be on continuing to innovate, create and build meaningful relationships that would improve customer experience and brighten lives.

MTN Ghana, which was incorporated on April 14, 1994 with registration number C-54, 827 as a private company limited by shares, converted to a public company limited by shares on October 18, 2016 with registration number PL000322016.

The National Communications Authority had directed Scancom Plc to offer 35% of its shares to indigenous Ghanaians through listing on the Ghana Stock Exchange as part of the conditions for acquiring a 4G license.

In May 2018, the company successfully launched its Initial Public Offer (IPO) which raised three billion, four hundred and seventy million shares to cede 35 percent of its ownership to Ghanaians.

The MTN share offer, which ran from May 29, 2018 to July 31, 2018, was purchased in multiples of ten at seventy-five pesewas a share.

In all, 1,530,474,360 shares, amounting to GHC1, 146,589,464.75 (representing 32.97% of the total offer amount) were raised by 128, 152 applicants.

The applicants comprised 499 Institutions which applied for 1,367,386,080 shares, amounting to GHC1, 025,539,560.00, representing 89.44 per cent, while 127,653 Retail applicants applied for 163,088,280 shares, amounting to GHC121, 049,904.75, representing 10.56%.

By raising GHS 1,146,589,464.75 from 128,152 applicants of 1,530,474,360 shares, MTN Ghana's IPO made history as the largest primary share offer in the history of the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) and enabled many Ghanaians from all walks of life to own shares in one of Ghana's largest, most visible and well respected companies.

Of the 128,152 applicants, 127,826 were Ghanaians and of the GHC 1,146,589,464.75 raised under the Offer, GHS 443,631,446.25, representing 38.69%, was raised from Ghanaians.

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