Cell C's full financial results, for the six months ended June 2016, provide detailed insight into the performance of South Africa's third-largest mobile telecommunications operator for the first time. The numbers are contained in a circular published this week by JSE-listed Blue Label Telecoms, which is acquiring a 45% stake in Cell C for R5.5-billion. They show that Cell C is profitable - just - for the first time since it was launched 15 years ago. But they also paint a picture of a business lumbered by debt and struggling to make headway against its bigger rivals. Cell C has racked up accumulated losses of R26.4-billion to date. Furthermore, it has debts totalling R29.6-billion, of which R19.2-billion is in the form of interest-bearing loans and borrowings. Net debt at the end of 2015 was a staggering R20-billion, up sharply from R14.3-billion in 2014. The proposed restructuring, in which staff and management will take 25% of the operator's equity, will see debt levels reduced t...
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