UPDATE 2-MTN Nigeria eyes debt and equity sale after stock market listing

(Adds plan to raise naira financing)
By Chijioke Ohuocha
ABUJA, May 15 (Reuters) - MTN Nigeria is arranging local
debt financing and plans to sell shares to new investors through
a public offering, after listing its shares in Africa's biggest
economy on Thursday.
Nigeria, MTN's biggest market with 52.3 million users in
2017, accounts for a third of the South African group's MTNJ.J
annual core profit, but it has faced problems in the country in
recent years.
In December, MTN agreed to make a $53 million payment to
resolve a dispute in Nigeria. The move ended a multi-billion
dollar dividend repatriation row, hitting its share prices in
Johannesburg.
MTN, owned by South Africa's MTN Group, has been one of the
main beneficiaries of Nigeria's push to liberalise its economy
over the past two decades. But it has come under increased
pressure from the government to boost local ownership.
MTN Group CFO, Ralph Mupita said the listing was an
important step towards increasing local ownership in MTN Nigeria
and building the country's equity capital markets.
The company also said it was relying on local funding in
naira to mitigate exchange rate volatility.
MTN Group said the company has received approval from the
Nigerian Stock Exchange to list its shares on Thursday, giving
its existing shareholders access to trade their shares on the
bourse.
The company also said the Nigerian unit will raise debt,
adding that the total level rose 44% to 252 billion naira
($823.66 million) in the first quarter.
"This is just the beginning, we still intend to pursue a
future public offer giving more Nigerians greater access to the
MTN opportunity," Ferdi Moolman, chief executive of MTN Nigeria,
said.
MTN decided to list its local company in Nigeria in 2016
after agreeing to pay a $1.7 billion fine to settle a SIM card
dispute with the government. Earlier, the company said it
planned to list in the first half of 2019.
MTN Nigeria said last week it would list 20.4 billion
ordinary shares on the Nigerian stock market. The company said capital expenditure in the first quarter,
rose to 63 billion naira, the bulk of which went to upgrade its
network, up from 18 billion naira same period last year.
Service revenue grew 13.4% to 282 billion naira in the first
quarter, driven by a rise in voice and data income and the
addition of 2.1 million mobile subscribers.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and
amortization (EBITDA), a measure of operating profit, reached
150.4 billion naira ($492 mln) in the three months to March
2019, up from 123 billion naira a year earlier, MTN said.
MTN said it targets a dividend payout ratio of at least 80%
of its net income in the medium term.

($1 = 305.95 naira)