SA's third mobile operator Cell C grew its customer base 12%, to 8.2 million subscribers, and revenue 5%, to R10.2 billion, by the end of December.
The company also improved its share of the local market to 15.4%, gaining a percentage point during the year, says chairman Simon Duffy, who is also acting CEO, after the sudden departure of Lars Reichelt last month.
Duffy says the cellular company decreased churn 14%, and grew blended average revenue per user by 6%, to R99 a month.
However, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation were flat at R1.4 billion, due to unusually high levels of expenditure as the company rolls out its new HSPA+ network, Duffy says.
Cell C has R8 billion in debt on its books, of which about R7.5 billion is long-term debt, says Duffy. Cell C will “soon” be profitable on the bottom line, he adds.
Network rollout
The company has covered 63% of the population and is on track to meet its goal of 97% coverage by year-end, says Duffy. “The transformation is far from over.”
Service revenue, which is turnover the company earns from providing network services, grew 4%, of which about 99% was from voice traffic, says Duffy.
Cell C has agreed to transfer 1 365 towers to American Tower Corporation for $200 million. Duffy says the bulk of the sale has been completed, and Cell C has the option to transfer another 1 800 base stations to the tower infrastructure company.
The cellular company has about 100 000 BlackBerry users, and has 120 000 data users on its network since it launched its data offerings last year.
Simon Camerer, executive head of marketing, says the company will introduce new products in the next few weeks.
New CEO
Cell C is looking for a replacement for Reichelt, but Duffy will act in the position for “as long as it takes,” he says.
Duffy expects to find a CEO to replace Reichelt from outside the company. “We are looking everywhere.”
The process is expected to take a few months, but Cell C has appointed a company to search for a new head, notes Duffy.
Reichelt left the operator on 13 July. He joined Cell C as CEO in March 2009, on a three-year contract. He took over from Jeffrey Hedberg, who left to lead Telkom's Nigerian operation, Multi-Links, before becoming Telkom's acting CEO after Reuben September's sudden departure last year.
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