Uganda’s Stock market on Monday witnessed some trading activities which saw businessman Charles Mbire bolster his stake at MTN by acquiring additional 2,263,930 shares at a total cost of Shs 459,907,621.00 on the securities exchange.
This is the second purchase Mbire is making since MTN listed on the Securities Exchange, an indication the businessman has faith in the future of the business.
The purchase which took place on August 22 was evidently the signature activity of the day, on Uganda’s Securities Exchange where MTN is among the top companies trading their shares on the stock market.
Mbire has been boasting of a 4 percent share value in MTN worth over $55M.
This comes barely a month since the Telecommunications Mogul acquired a huge stake into Bank of Baroda through a single purchase of 23,529,400 shares worth over Shs 2bn.
Charles Mbire’s other investment ventures include Logistics (FF), Revenue Assurance- Invesco , Oil services- (INVESCO) Tech, Real Estate and oil exploration among others.
MTN Uganda recorded a 20% increase in profit after tax to Shs100bn in quarter one of 2022, signifying an improvement in profit margins.
The performance was boosted by data revenue, which increased by 45% underpinned by a 20% growth in active data users, improvement in broadband coverage, smart phone penetration and data traffic.
Wim Vanhelleputte, the CEO MTN Uganda said: “We made good progress in the first quarter of 2022 amidst a challenging macroeconomic environment following a protracted lockdown due to COVID-19. Trading conditions have further been affected by rising household inflation and fuel prices fuelled by the war in Ukraine, which have had a notable impact on consumer purchasing power.”
MTN Uganda is majority owned by South Africa’s MTN Group and is listed on the Uganda Securities Exchange (USE). The firm listed on the USE in December after a deeply undersubscribed initial public offering.
In 2021, the firm reported a 6.6% jump in pre-tax profit compared with the previous period, supported by higher data sales and faster uptake of its fintech services.