JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Shares in Telkom dropped more than 7 percent in afternoon deals on Friday after the South African telecoms group forecast a sharp fall in full-year profit.

Telkom, whose biggest shareholder is the South African government, was down 3.45 percent at 23.50 rand by 1221 GMT, recouping some lost ground after sinking over 7 percent.

The company said headline earnings per share (EPS), the main profit measure in South Africa, likely fell by at least 25 percent in year to the end of March.

The company also said basic EPS, which includes one-off items, is likely to show at least a 90 percent decline because of 950 million rand in losses from the sale of its Nigerian unit and a 550 million rand write down on its broadband unit iWayAfrica.

The company also took a 2.2 billion rand loss from its recently launched mobile phone business in South Africa.