By Anthony O. Goriainoff 



  MTN Group Ltd. said Thursday that pretax profit for its Nigerian business fell 2% for the first half of the year as lockdowns due to the coronavirus were implemented in the second quarter, and that it remained confident in the resilience of the business despite the continued threat of the pandemic. 


  The South Africa-based telecommunications company said that, for the six months ended June 30, MTN Nigeria Communications Ltd. made a pretax profit of 139.6 billion Nigerian naira ($357.8 million). 


  Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization rose 8.2% to NGN327.1 billion, the company said. 


  Mobile subscribers rose by 6.8 million to 71.1 million during the period, with 3.8 million new active data users bringing the total to 29.0 million. 


  The board approved an interim dividend of 3.50 kobo a share. 100 kobo equals 1 Nigerian naira. 


  Write to Anthony O. Goriainoff at anthony.orunagoriainoff@dowjones.com