Telecommunication Giant MTN Loses $5.2 Billion As Shares Drop

Telecom Giants MTN, has been fined $5.2 billion by the Nigerian Communications Commission for failing to disconnect customers with unregistered SIM cards. This caused the Company’s shares to fall the most in almost seven years.

The fine relates to the timing of the disconnection of 5.1 million MTN Nigeria subscribers in August and September 2015 and is based on a fine of 200,000 naira ($1,008) for each unregistered subscriber, Johannesburg-based MTN said in a statement on Monday. MTN Nigeria is in talks with the NCC to resolve the matter, the company said.

MTN shares declined as much as 12 percent, the most since December 2008, and traded 9.4 percent lower at 172.94 rand as of 2:36 p.m. in Johannesburg. That values the company at 320 billion rand ($24 billion).