* Investors worried about rial impact on profit
* Iran currency down a third in 2 weeks
* MTN shares down nearly 5 pct this month
By Helen Nyambura-Mwaura
JOHANNESBURG, Oct 8 (Reuters) – The impact of Iran’s
currency slide has reached beyond its borders, hitting shares of
MTN Group, the South African mobile operator that
derives nearly a tenth of its revenue from the Middle Eastern
country.
MTN, which has been unable to repatriate profits from its
Irancell unit because of Western sanctions on Iran, flagged in
August that further rial weakness would deflate its second-half
earnings.
Its shares were down 3.7 percent at 152.06 rand in afternoon
trade in Johannesburg, bringing its losses this month to nearly
5 percent.
The rial has lost about a third of its value against the
U.S. dollar in the last two weeks as U.S.-led sanctions cut the
country’s ability to earn hard currency from oil exports.
MTN operates in 21 countries across Africa and the Middle
East, including a 49 percent stake in Irancell.
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