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Johannesburg - MTN Group [JSE:MTN] said it expects first-half earnings to rise by as much as 23%, as Africa's biggest mobile-phone operator continues to benefit from fast-growing demand in emerging markets.
MTN said in a trading update on Monday it expects adjusted headline earnings per share to rise between 18.1% to 23.1% for the six months to end-June.
Adjusted headline EPS totalled 363.8 cents in the same period a year earlier.
The company did not give a reason for the profit increase.
MTN, which earlier this year scrapped a plan to buy assets from Egypt's Orascom Telecom, has been helped by strong demand in markets such as Nigeria and Iran.
The company said last month it aimed to pay higher dividends to shareholders, a sign it may move from a strategy of acquisition-based growth as Africa's mobile phone market matures.
Headline EPS is the main gauge of profit in South Africa and excludes certain one-time items. MTN is due to report its first-half results on Thursday.
Shares of MTN are down 1.2 percent so far this year, compared with a 2.3 percent drop in South Africa's Top-40 index.