Johannesburg: MTN Group Ltd reported a first per-share loss as a public company as Africa’s biggest mobile-phone operator agreed to settle a record fine in Nigeria and was hurt by weaker earnings in South Africa. The loss will be between 2.85 rand and 3.15 rand per share in the six months through June, the Johannesburg-based company said in a statement on Thursday. The so-called headline figure, which excludes one-time items, will be a loss of between 2.55 rand and 2.85 rand per share. The biggest contributor to the decline was MTN’s agreement to pay a record 330 billion naira (Dh3.8 billion, $1 billion) fine in Nigeria, the company’s largest market. The penalty was levied in October after MTN missed a deadline to disconnect unregistered subscribers, and the subsequent loss of customers further hurt operations in the country.