Though there is “significant doubt” over Cell C’s ability to continue as a going concern, the mobile operator’s biggest shareholder, Blue Label Telecoms, said on Friday that “management believes it is more likely than not” that the company will survive.
While big technology shares in the US have continued to hit new highs in 2020 – among them, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Google and Nvidia – JSE-listed IT companies have had a torrid start to the new decade.
Blue Label Telecoms said on Monday it will report a sharp swing back into profit in the six months ended 30 November 2019 after previously writing down the value of its 45% stake in mobile operator Cell C to zero.
Earnings are up, margins are stabilising and there is a ruthless approach to cutting additional costs out of the business. A recharged Cell C is being built that creates value for its stakeholders.
It’s not all doom and gloom at Cell C, apparently. The debt-laden mobile operator has managed to scrounge up the cash to renew its sponsorship of Sharks Rugby.
Cell C has appointed two new non-executive directors, Sindi Zilwa and Mark Nelson-Smith, to its board, it said on Wednesday. The operator’s chief legal officer, Zahir Williams, is also joining the board.
Cell C has defaulted on the payment of interest on a $184-million loan, which was due in December 2019, along with interest and capital repayments related to bilateral loan facilities with various lenders.
With a fixed-line business under pressure, an IT services company feeling the pinch and a mobile business facing strong competition, Telkom CEO Sipho Maseko has a difficult road ahead of him. By Duncan McLeod.
New independent research shows that MTN has South Africa’s best mobile network and beats its rivals in every category, from consistent quality to download and upload speeds.
Vodacom is in talks with Cell C about taking on the smaller rival’s contract-paying mobile phone customers, a move that would strengthen its position as South Africa’s telecommunications market leader, sources said.
