Between late June 2018 and late September 2018, Dodge & Cox, a large American institutional investor sold about 18.6 million of the about 114.4 million shares it owns in the South African telecommunications group MTN, Ecofin Agency noted from corroborative sources.

The company makes no specific comments on this sale but, it explains that the problems MTN Nigeria is being confronted with contributed to the poor performances of its fund dedicated to investments in listed companies around the world (Dodge & Cox International Stock Fund).

 "In Q3, 2018, the value of the two companies with specific problems (Bayer and MTN Group) hurt the fund's performance", the performance report published by Dodge & Cox indicated. Indeed, the Nigerian central bank’s announcement of an $8.1 billion dispute and another $2 billion legal dispute with the same country’s tax administration, made MTN group’s share lose 20% on Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

MTN has already gained some points as they seem to have found a solution but it remains at a historically low level. Overall, MTN Group’s share has lost 33.12% this year.

Among the other institutional investors present in the capital of MTN Group and exposed to its counter-performances, there is the Public Investment Corporation, manager of South African civil servants' pension fund, the South African  Coronation Asset Management, the American  BlackRock and the Swiss Lombard Odier Dariel Hentsch & Cie, an asset and wealth manager.

Idriss Linge