MTN Nigeria has received an accommodating breather from its funders and suppliers, helping it avoid an imminent rights issue while it looks to trade and negotiate itself back to solvency.
MTN's subsidiary in its most valuable market said on Friday it paid $173.2 million (R3.3 billion) to reduce its debt exposure to recurring foreign currency obligations, while it has obtained "the necessary accommodations" from lenders pertaining to the effect on its loan agreements of breaches of covenants.
The payment has reduced the company's outstanding obligation to the dollar-denominated letters of credit obligations by 41.5% to $243.4 million during the three months to end-March.