Author: Gugu Lourie
Crisis-hit Cell C has defaulted on interest payments of loans due July 2019 on certain bilateral loan facilities totalling 40% of its total debt at Dec. 31, 2018, according to rating agency S&P Global Ratings, which today lowered the company’s rating to default. The mobile phone operator, which has been grappling with debt for some time now, has been a drag on its biggest shareholder Blue Label Telecoms. The operator is struggling to service an almost R9 billion debt load. Shares in JSE-listed Blue Label Telecoms, which owns half of Cell C, tumbled 7.43% to close at R2.74 a share.…
South Africa’s retailer Mr Price, which runs its mobile virtual network operator on a Cell C’s network since 2014, continues to make money from cellular and mobile. Its services are becoming an alternative to your traditional mobile phone companies, such as Vodacom, MTN, and Cell C, etc. However, MR Price is only known for its affordable and quality clothes. You may wish to know the amounts of money the company is making from the lucrative cellular and financial services. The retail group announced on Thursday that the insurance revenue of R81.1 million decreased 5.2% and cellular and mobile revenue increased…
Things keep getting worse for the JSE-listed group. At 12:20 today, Blue Label Telecoms shares fell 6.1% to slide all the way to R2.92 a share, pushing the company’s market value way below the R19.3 billion in October 2016 when the firm invested in Cell C. The company’s shares have more than halved in the past year, giving it a R3 billion in market value. This is more than R2 billion lower than the controversial R5.5 billion paid by Blue Label Telecoms for its 45% stake in Cell C. The latest reason why Blue Label Telecoms shares are tanking…
Last month, Cell C said it has appointed Bowmans Attorneys to “investigate any parts of the business where we suspect that there may be irregular business practices”. Given that Cell C executives have been accused of many things by #SAVECELLC and #CellCKwenzenjani group on social media the probe may in fact be overdue. For more read: R219 Million Paid To Three Top Execs At Cell C in 2017 The allegations are that executives have been dishing out contracts to family members. Even, S&P rating agency downgraded Cell C’s rating profile, placing it deeper into ‘junk’ status in June. Last week,…
The publication of the 2019 financial year results of JSE-listed group Blue Label Telecoms will be delayed until late September. Blue Label Telecoms informed investors on Monday that the delay is due to various issues related to Cell C. The JSE-listed group is the largest shareholder of Cell C, South Africa’s troubled mobile phone operator. The company informed investors that its financial results for the year ended 31 May 2019 will be released on SENS on 26 September 2019. The results had been expected to publish later this month. “Blue Label’s audit for the year ended 31 May 2019 is…
JSE-listed technology group Blue Label Telecoms shares took another nosedive on Thursday as it emerged that troubled Cell C has fallen behind on payments to MTN for using its network. Cell C has a roaming agreement with MTN. In its half-year results, MTN announced that it is owed R393 million by Cell C and has written off a part of the amount. The share price of Blue Label Telecoms was trading 1.55% lower at R4.46 a share by 15h00 on Thursday, reflecting investor concern that the troubles at Cell C may be far from being resolved. In 2017, Blue Label…
MTN, Africa’s largest mobile phone operator, could score R23 billion from a sale of its stake in HIS Towers, Africa’s largest telecommunication-towers company. MTN owns 29% stake in IHS Towers, and the remainder is held by French investment firm Wendel SA and Goldman Sachs & Co. Africa’s largest mobile phone operator is not selling its interest in IHS Towers, but the company informed investors on Thursday that its stake is not held for long-term strategic purposes. “Our associate tower businesses include our 49% holdings in both ATC Ghana and ATC Uganda. During the first half we saw a strong contribution…
Jumia – the largest e-commerce operator in Africa – was floated on the New York Stock Exchange(NYSE) on April 2019 and MTN is a significant shareholder. MTN – Africa’s largest mobile phone operator, owns 18.9% stake in Jumia. The stake is worth more than Clientele’s entire market value on the JSE, which is R5.1 billion. “Following the Jumia IPO and making reference to the NYSE share price of the business at the end of the period (30 June 2019), we now value our 18,9% stake at R5,5 billion at an American Depositary Share (ADS) price of $26,42,” MTN informed investors…
MTN is re-focusing its business on building an integrated digital operator and the results are encouraging. The shift is part of a strategy to focus on the FinTech, digital, enterprise, and wholesale business areas. This is to position Africa’s largest mobile phone operator for the future where voice business will no longer be its bread and butter. MTN makes about 59% of its revenue from voice. In the six months to end June, MTN’s voice revenue rose 4.5% to R40 billion. However, this picture is slowly changing as MTN continues its journey to transform itself into a digital operator. In…
Blue Label Telecoms announced on Wednesday that it has promoted Douglas Craigie Stevenson to CEO of troubled Cell C. The JSE-listed firm, Cell C’s largest shareholder, said the appointment of Craigie Stevenson is with immediate effect. Craigie Stevenson was appointed as interim CEO in March. “In the past five months Douglas and his team have led the company to improved financial stability, sound business ethics and good governance, better operational performance and has established a path to sustainability,” Kuben Pillay, Chairman of the Cell C Board says. “His permanent appointment was unanimously approved by the board and we are fully…