Sector: Telecommunications
The company is not available at Interactive Brokers
Blue Label Telecoms (JSE:BLU) sells innovative technology for mobile commerce to emerging markets in South Africa and abroad.
The company's users are rich, poor, urban and rural and it allow them all to interact and transact on an equal footing. The company reaches them by using both physical and virtual distribution channels.
Blue Label targets many of its services at people who do not have easy access to bank accounts, and allows them the convenience of being able to transact where and when they want to.
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Blue Label Telecoms has received approval from the Competition Commission to take control of Cell C.
2024-04-02 10:30 +02:00
Brett and Mark Levy will have to cough up tens of millions of rand each after Blue Label’s plans to expand in India went awry.
2024-03-08 12:31 +02:00
Blue Label Telecoms said its underlying core headline earnings will decline by R100-million in its latest reporting period.
2024-02-15 11:12 +02:00
TechCentral spoke to Cell C’s top executives for insight on the company’s recent recapitalisation – and what comes next.
2023-11-27 12:16 +02:00
Blue Label Telecoms, which is seeking control of Cell C, plans to bring in a new strategic investor into the mobile operator.
2023-09-12 11:09 +02:00
Blue Label Telecoms has agreed to acquire control of Cell C, taking its shareholding beyond 50%.
2023-08-30 13:11 +02:00
Blue Label Telecoms has cautioned shareholders that Cell C will be a drag on its full-year earnings.
2023-08-24 15:27 +02:00
Cell C has completed the migration of its network to partner MTN as the mobile operator shifts strategy.
2023-06-21 12:14 +02:00
Cell C CEO Douglas Craigie Stevenson will step down from the mobile operator at the end of March.
2023-03-23 12:13 +02:00
Cell C said it is “transforming” its core business support system as it pivots to being what it calls a “digital lifestyle company”.
2022-11-09 16:55 +02:00
Blue Label Telecoms, the largest shareholder in Cell C, may seek to buy a majority and controlling stake in the mobile operator.
2022-10-27 14:14 +02:00
In a surprise move, JSE-listed Blue Label Telecoms has called a meeting to update investors on “key business developments”.
2022-10-25 08:50 +02:00
The highly anticipated publication of Cell C’s latest financial results has been postponed to due the ill health of the company’s CEO.
2022-09-13 12:34 +02:00
Cell C on Wednesday said its chief financial officer, Zaf Mahomed, is stepping down to pursue “new business opportunities”.
2022-08-31 11:08 +02:00
Blue Label Telecoms expects to report an improvement of up to 38% in headline earnings per share for the year ended 31 May 2022.
2022-08-19 09:51 +02:00
The recapitalisation of Cell C is taking longer than expected, and will now only be concluded “towards the end of August”.
2022-08-01 10:24 +02:00
Lenders to the troubled mobile operator have approved a “compromise offer” that will place the company into a more sustainable debt position.
2022-07-05 15:33 +02:00
A critical meeting to decide the future of Cell C was not able to proceed to a vote on a planned recapitalisation this week.
2022-06-21 18:31 +02:00
The long-delayed recapitalisation of debt-laden mobile operator Cell C is inching forward, with secured lenders set to vote on a “compromise offer” next month.
2022-05-25 17:42 +02:00
Blue Label Telecoms has unveiled long-awaited details of a planned recapitalisation of Cell C – a move aimed at dealing once and for all with the mobile operator’s crippling debt problem.
2022-03-15 16:38 +02:00
Cell C has rejigged popular prepaid broadband bundles, and is now offering 2GB of data for R45 (plus 2GB for use late at night).
2022-02-25 09:49 +02:00
Blue Label Telecoms’ co-CEOs Mark and Brett Levy have expressed their frustration that investors continue to punish Blue Label for their Cell C deal, despite the solid performance of the group in recent years.
2022-02-24 21:00 +02:00
Blue Label Telecoms has said that the long-awaited recapitalisation of debt-laden mobile operator Cell C will be completed by no later than May this year.
2022-02-23 20:08 +02:00
Blue Label Telecoms on Wednesday provided more insight into a fraud scheme it uncovered last year that led to the suspension of two senior executives.
2022-02-23 12:32 +02:00
Blue Label Telecoms, the JSE-listed firm that owns 45% of Cell C, is still in talks about recapitalising the debt-laden mobile operator’s balance sheet.
2022-01-05 08:25 +02:00
Four-year-old South African stock exchange A2X expects to break even by 2023 as trading in the secondary listings it offers takes off.
2021-10-13 11:29 +02:00JSE:PRX JSE:MTN JSE:VOD JSE:INP JSE:N91 JSE:INL JSE:TKG JSE:NY1 JSE:JSE JSE:BLU JSE:MPT
Blue Label Telecoms has suspended two senior executives pending an investigation into possible irregularities, details of which the JSE-listed group has declined to disclose at this stage.
2021-08-30 18:10 +02:00
Cell C’s largest shareholder, Blue Label Telecoms, disclosed on Thursday that a term sheet to recapitalise the mobile operator has finally been signed after protracted negotiations.
2021-08-26 14:45 +02:00
JSE-listed Blue Label Telecoms, which owns 45% of mobile operator Cell C, said on Friday that it will report a big jump full-year headline earnings when it reports results next week.
2021-08-20 13:07 +02:00
Cell C is in advanced talks with Rand Merchant Bank and Investec to provide it with about R4-billion rand in fresh capital, according to people familiar with the matter.
2021-06-30 17:26 +02:00
Cell C is showing signs of having turned the corner, at least when it comes to its income statement – the company’s balance sheet still needs fixing through a planned recapitalisation.
2021-02-26 08:17 +02:00
Blue Label Telecoms will report slight growth in headline earnings per share of between 0% an 4% for the six-month reporting period ended 30 November 2020.
2021-02-17 07:27 +02:00
Blue Label Telecoms has sold its interest in Blue Label Mexico to its partner in the business, multinational bakery products company Grupo Bimbo, for $11.5-million.
2020-09-17 13:33 +02:00
Cell C’s largest shareholder, Blue Label Telecoms, is confident a recapitalisation of the mobile operator will be completed in the coming months and that this will put it on a new growth trajectory.
2020-08-27 09:03 +02:00
Financially distressed mobile operator Cell C expects to close 128 retail stores around the country, with 546 jobs on the line, as it moves to reduce costs and become a more sustainable business.
2020-08-21 13:54 +02:00
Blue Label Telecoms will take a R330-million knock to its earnings after it decided to close its WiConnect retail stores, which it opened in partnership with Edcon Group starting in 2015.
2020-07-06 16:04 +02:00
Cell C’s planned recapitalisation remains the subject of discussions with potential investors, despite a plan, announced last month, to retrench almost 40% of its workforce.
2020-07-06 15:00 +02:00
Cell C has begun a consultation process under the Labour Relations Act that is likely to result in 960 employees – or almost 40% of the company’s workforce – being retrenched.
2020-06-19 14:33 +02:00
The Competition Commission on Thursday said it has given its conditional approval for an entity called Gatsby SPV to acquire “certain aspects” of Cell C.
2020-05-21 13:33 +02:00
The planned recapitalisation of Cell C, believed to involve the Buffet Consortium and other investors, has been finalised, though details are only expected to be made public next month, TechCentral has learnt.
2020-05-20 10:59 +02:00
Financially distressed mobile operator Cell C said the second half of its 2019 financial year showed a solid turnaround in its fortunes, with a R1-billion improvement in Ebitda.
2020-03-23 18:00 +02:00
African Rainbow Capital Investments has attached a remarkable R13.1-billion valuation to Rain, giving it a value 40% above Telkom’s current market capitalisation.
2020-03-19 12:50 +02:00
South Africa’s benchmark stock index plunged the most since the market crash of October 1997 as reaction to US measures aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus accelerated the sell-off.
2020-03-12 14:23 +02:00JSE:NPN JSE:MTN JSE:VOD JSE:SOL JSE:AVI JSE:TKG JSE:JSE JSE:BLU JSE:EOH JSE:ISA
MTN Group shares fell more than 12% on Monday morning in Johannesburg, to their lowest levels in nearly 14 years, as investors digested the news of a shock fall in oil prices overnight.
2020-03-09 15:15 +02:00JSE:MTN JSE:VOD JSE:SOL JSE:AVI JSE:JSE JSE:BLU JSE:MPT JSE:EOH
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.
2020-02-28 19:23 +02:00
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.
2020-02-27 10:11 +02:00
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.
2020-02-24 14:11 +02:00
It’s been a grim start to 2020 for some South African-listed technology companies, which have seen their shares battered on weak earnings updates and negative investor sentiment.
2020-02-18 15:16 +02:00
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.
2020-01-29 18:55 +02:00
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.
2020-01-28 18:00 +02:00
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.
2020-01-14 15:55 +02:00
Shares of Vodacom Group and MTN Group slumped after South Africa’s two biggest mobile phone companies were ordered to step up efforts to lower data prices within the next two months or face prosecution.
2019-12-02 14:37 +02:00
Shares in Telkom soared shortly after markets opened in Johannesburg on Friday as investors took cheer from the fact that the it won’t be burdened with rival Cell C’s debt problems.
2019-11-29 07:30 +02:00
The share price of Telkom tumbled on Monday morning while Blue Label Telecoms rose after MTN South Africa and Cell C announced they had signed a massively expanded roaming deal.
2019-11-18 19:17 +02:00
Telkom said that it expects that the “parties involved” will have considered the newly announced, much-expanded roaming agreement between Cell C and MTN South Africa “in the context of the discussions with Telkom”.
2019-11-18 11:29 +02:00
Telkom wants to buy Cell C in a plan that will include reducing its troubled rival’s debt and renegotiating contracts with suppliers, according to people with knowledge of the situation.
2019-11-12 18:00 +02:00
Blue Label Telecoms, which bought a 45% stake in Cell C in 2017 for R5.5-billion, has said in its annual report that it is “extremely disappointed” in the performance of the mobile operator.
2019-10-29 16:00 +02:00
Blue Label Telecoms co-founders and co-CEOs Brett and Mark Levy are stepping down as non-executive directors of the Cell C board with immediate effect.
2019-10-24 15:23 +02:00
A group of local banks have committed to provide temporary liquidity and extended the maturity of R1.2-billion of debt that was due to be repaid last month, Cell C said.
2019-09-27 04:30 +02:00
TechCentral sat down with Cell C’s CEO and chief financial officer to discuss the operator’s plan not only to pull itself back from the brink but to put itself on a sustainable financial footing.
2019-09-26 14:15 +02:00
A day before Blue Label Telecoms reports its annual results, the technology group has announced it will sell various businesses, including part of 3G Mobile, to deleverage its balance sheet.
2019-09-25 17:49 +02:00
Shares in Blue Label Telecoms enjoyed a rare upswing on Friday, a day after it issued a trading update that showed its core business continues to perform well despite the ongoing woes at Cell C.
2019-09-20 08:52 +02:00
Blue Label Telecoms will take an almost R6.71/share hit to its earnings per share for the full-year to 31 May 2019 thanks to the ongoing woes at Cell C, it warned on Thursday.
2019-09-19 15:06 +02:00
The JSE warned on Tuesday that Blue Label Telecoms failed to submit its annual financial results on time and that if it fails to do so by month-end, its shares may be suspended from trading.
2019-09-17 10:22 +02:00
A board meeting of a key Cell C shareholder scheduled for earlier this month was cancelled in order to probe alleged fraud related to the removal and appointment of company directors, TechCentral has learnt.
2019-09-10 19:44 +02:00
Net1 UEPS Technologies has become the second JSE-listed company, after Blue Label Telecoms, to delay publication of financial results because of the ongoing financial woes at Cell C.
2019-09-10 13:39 +02:00
S&P Global Ratings has downgraded Cell C’s debt to “D”, or “default” – its lowest-possible “junk” rating – after the mobile operator “failed to make interest payments on certain bilateral loan facilities” due last month.
2019-08-22 18:45 +02:00
Cell C’s largest shareholder, Blue Label Telecoms, will delay publication of its full-year financial results until late September to deal with various issues related to the mobile operator’s recapitalisation and restructuring.
2019-08-19 17:00 +02:00
Cell C has missed several payments to national roaming partner MTN South Africa, underscoring the dire financial straits in which the country’s third-largest mobile operator finds itself.
2019-08-08 10:35 +02:00
Financially strained telecommunications operator Cell C said on Wednesday that it has finalised a term sheet for a further national roaming agreement with rival MTN South Africa.
2019-08-07 13:44 +02:00
Cell C’s board has appointed Douglas Craigie Stevenson as its permanent CEO. Craigie Stevenson had been serving in act acting capacity for the past five months following the resignation of Jose Dos Santos in March.
2019-08-07 12:30 +02:00
Blue Label Telecoms’ Blue Label Ventures has invested in technology start-up Mobii Systems, which provides rugby match analysis to teams and coaches to help them plan their game strategies.
2019-07-30 08:09 +02:00
“We don’t have another chance to do this again. We have to do this right,” interim CEO Douglas Craigie Stevenson said in an interview with TechCentral.
2019-07-12 15:00 +02:00
Cell C’s largest shareholder, JSE-listed Blue Label Telecoms, has moved to reassure nervous investors about the mobile operator’s prospects.
2019-07-11 15:13 +02:00
Cell C has begun talks to delay debt payments and hired consultants to probe its business practices and advise on a restructuring.
2019-07-11 08:47 +02:00
S&P Global Ratings has downgraded Cell C’s debt rating further after the troubled mobile operator amended a private “airtime facility” agreement that the agency described as being “tantamount to a selective default”.
2019-06-26 18:07 +02:00
South Africa`s Blue Label Telecoms Ltd said on Thursday it had concluded an agreement to restructure and refinance mobile operator Cell C`s 7.3 billion rand ($411 million) debt to bolster its finances and liquidity.
2022-09-22
South Africa`s third-biggest telecom operator, Cell C, said on Monday it plans to lay off 960 workers as it restructures its operations to align the organisation with its new operating model.
2020-06-22
South African telecoms company Cell C plans to hive off some assets into a new special purpose vehicle called Gatsby, the country`s competition watchdog said on Thursday, adding that it has approved the plan subject to conditions.
2020-05-21South African telecoms company Telkom SA said on Friday its takeover bid for Cell C had been rejected, a move that comes after its larger but troubled rival expanded a roaming agreement with African giant MTN Group .
2019-11-29
South African telecoms company Telkom SA said on Friday its takeover bid for Cell C had been rejected, a move that comes after its larger but troubled rival expanded a roaming agreement with African giant MTN Group.
2019-11-29
South Africa`s Telkom SA said on Friday it was in talks about a potential takeover of Cell C, the country`s third biggest mobile carrier, hitting shares in Cell C majority shareholder Blue Label Telecoms.
2019-11-15
South Africa`s Blue Label Telecoms said on Wednesday Douglas Craigie Stevenson had been appointed permanent CEO of mobile carrier Cell C, citing its improved finances since he took the position on an interim basis.
2019-08-07
