South African mobile network operator MTN Group said Monday it is under investigation by a U.S. Department of Justice grand jury over its conduct in Afghanistan and through its former subsidiary there, as well as its partial ownership of an Iranian carrier.
The company said it is cooperating with U.S. authorities and voluntarily responding to requests for information. Chief Executive Ralph Mupita told reporters that MTN had been informed of the probe by its external U.S. counsel but declined to provide further details.
News of the investigation, along with a slight downgrade of MTN’s medium-term revenue outlook in its home market, sent its shares tumbling 9% Monday, overshadowing results showing the company returned to profit in the first half of the year.
MTN is already facing multiple lawsuits in the United States brought by American service members and civilians injured or killed in Iraq and Afghanistan between 2005 and 2010. The plaintiffs accuse MTN of violating the U.S. Anti-Terrorism Act by allegedly supporting anti-American militias through its stake in Irancell, in which MTN owns 49%.
The company said jurisdictional discovery in those cases closed in July 2023, and that plaintiffs filed an amended complaint on Aug. 6, 2025, adding new claims similar to those in three other ongoing lawsuits. MTN said it plans to file a motion to dismiss the complaint.
Despite the legal headwinds, MTN reported headline earnings per share of 645 cents for the six months ending June 30, compared with a headline loss of 256 cents a year earlier. Group service revenue rose 23.2% to 105.1 billion rand ($5.97 billion), with data and financial technology revenues climbing more than 35%.
Still, the company trimmed its medium-term service revenue growth forecast for South Africa to “low to mid-single digits,” citing weak consumer spending, competitive pricing pressures and sluggish economic conditions.
