by SAVIOUS KWINIKA
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – CELL C believes its turnaround strategy is yielding improved financial performance despite a R5,5 billion loss in 2020.
Zaf Mahomed, Chief Financial Officer of Cell C, said that although the company made a full year loss due to impairments and once-off costs, the latter six months of 2020 was encouraging.
“Our results reflect a business in transition,” he said.
“We are starting to see the impact of our changes which included a focus on more profitable subscribers and through the reduction in costs a shift to revenue generating activities. The foundations are now in place.”
Total revenue for the 12-month period was down by 8 percent to R13,8 billion (2019: R15,1 billion), with the largest part of the revenue contribution from its prepaid base at R6,2 billion (2019: R6,9 billion).
The operator’s gross margin declined by 7 percent and its cost optimization resulted in overall direct expenses being 9 percent lower at R7 billion (2019: R7,7 billion).
The total subscriber base was also back up to over 12,5 million (H1 2020: 11,7 million).
“Our turnaround strategy has improved our financial performance as a mobile network operator and Cell C is operationally more efficient,” Cell C’s CEO, Douglas Craigie Stevenson, said.
– CAJ News