Johannesburg - Cellphone network operator Vodacom has given the market a taste of what its half-year results to September will be when it reports on Monday next week.
The pre-results release is something that Vodacom has done for some time, in line with Vodafone reporting its results to the London market and disclosing details about Vodacom.
Vodacom - which from about May or June 2009 will be a 65% subsidiary of British mobile phone giant Vodafone Group and listed separately on the JSE - said it had 35.6m customers, a 13.1% increase on the comparable six-month period.
The company experienced top-line growth of 14% to R26bn, and profit from operations on that of R6.4bn, a 12.5% increase. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) were up 13.9% to R8.7bn, putting it on a stable Ebitda margin of 33.3%.
As usual, Vodacom was a cash-generating machine, increasing the cash gained from operations by 15.6% to R8bn.
Vodafone is paying Telkom R22.5bn, less attributable debt of R1.6bn, for another 15% stake in Vodacom, taking its share to 65%.
Telkom will then unbundled the remaining 35% to its shareholders. After the transaction, Vodafone will be the biggest shareholder, while government will own 13.8%, the Public Investment Corporation 4.6%, and other shareholders such as institutions and members of the public 16.6%.
African expansion
Black economic empowerment shareholders own 6% of the South African operations.
Analysts have celebrated the divorce between Telkom and Vodacom, as they have long said - and both companies have also conceded - that the shareholder stalemate was not a constructive situation for either company.
The shareholders' agreement between equal parents Telkom and Vodafone disallows Vodacom from expanding north of the equator. It also prevents Telkom from competing in the mobile market.
But, after the transaction has been completed, Telkom will offer cellphone services, and not be limited to playing in sub-Saharan Africa.
Vodacom, meanwhile, will be Vodafone's vehicle for its expansion in Africa, excluding the markets that it already plays in on the continent, Ghana and Kenya, as well as North Africa.
Telkom will mail the circular relating to the package deal to shareholders in February, and shareholders will get to vote on the deal at a special general meeting in mid-March.
Shares in Telkom were down 0.9% to R109 in early trade after the update from Vodacom.
The shares jumped from R89.50 on 25 October to R119 on November 6, but have not re-rated to the extent that one might have expected on the news of consummation of the Vodafone deal.
Telkom was trading above R150 in early June.
- Fin24.com