MTN shares become investor-favourite after AGF tax dispute resolution

Shares belonging to MTN Nigeria were an investor-favourite on Monday, leading the gainers’ chart on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

This comes after Abubakar Malami, the attorney general of the federation, withdrew from a $2 billion tax dispute case against the company.

At the close of trading on Monday, MTNN’s share price had appreciated by N11.60 to close at N127.60 per share.

It was trailed by UACN followed with 80k to close at N11.05, while GlaxoSmithKline appreciated by 35k to close at N5.65 per share.

United Bank for Africa gained 30k to close at N8.70, while Flour Mill also grew by 30k to close at N23.30 per share.

Consequently, the All-Share Index advanced by 218.19 points to settle at 29,633.58 against 29,415.39 achieved on Friday.

Also, the market capitalisation, which opened at N15.174 trillion, inched N113 billion to close at N15.287 trillion.

On the other hand, Presco recorded the highest loss, declining by N4.65 to close at N52.25 per share.

BUA Cement trailed with a loss of N2 to close at N39, while Seplat dipped N1.50 to close at N588 per share.

Cadbury declined by N1.05 to close at N9.50, while Unilever was down by N1 to close at N18 per share.

The total volume of traded shares increased by 23.96% with an exchange of 348.24 million shares valued at N8.55 billion exchanged in 5,377 deals.

This was in contrast to 280.921 million shares worth N4.82 billion traded in 5,189 deals on Friday.

Access Bank was the toast of investors during the day, accounting for 63.69 million shares valued at N682.46 million.

United Bank for Africa followed with an account of 40.63 million shares worth N354.19 million, while Zenith Bank traded 39.50 million shares valued at N861.15 million.

UACN sold a total of 24.37 million shares worth N268.65 million, while Guaranty Trust Bank traded 18.17 million shares valued at N573.719 million.

In September 2018, Abubakar Malami, the attorney general of the federation, demanded that the telco pay $2 billion in tax arrears.

The arrears requested cover import duties, VAT and withholding taxes on foreign imports/payments.

The AGF had said his office made a “high-level calculation” that MTN should have paid approximately $2 billion in taxes relating to the importation of foreign equipment and payments to foreign suppliers since 2008.