Blue Label ‘on right track’
Telecoms company insists Cell C purchase was a good idea, writes Marcia Klein
MTN’s latest Nigeria woes, which sliced 23% off its share price in one day, took some of the focus off Blue Label Telecoms, the telecom sector’s laggard. The MTN diversion may have momentarily stifled some of the negative noise around Blue Label, but did nothing to contain the slide in its share price. It has lost two-thirds of its value over the past year and 35% in the past month. It was once a rising star on the JSE, reaching more than R20 in October 2016. Since then, the trend has been down, and its current price of R6 is where it was trading in 2012. It is true that the telecoms sector has been hammered this year — MTN’s share price dropped 42% over a year and 37% over the past month, while Vodacom lost 26% over a year and 13% over the past month. Blue Label is a much smaller player, with higher risk, even taking MTN’s Nigerian troubles into consideration. But recent acquisitions, successful fundraising, positive results and a new roaming deal have done little to sway investors...
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