South African wireless operator Cell C is planning to stage an IPO on the stock market within 24 months. TechCentral cites CEO Jose Dos Santos as saying that the company has pencilled in late 2019 or early 2020 for a stock market debut. Before then, the newly recapitalised business wants to demonstrate consistent growth over several reporting periods.
As reported by TeleGeography’s CommsUpdate last week, Cell C posted a net profit of ZAR4.1 billion (USD349.5 million) for 2017, compared to a net profit of ZAR541 million in its previous fiscal year. The operator disclosed that the results were inflated by a one-off gain of ZAR4.1 billion stemming from its recapitalisation and restructuring programme, which was finalised in August 2017. Excluding the one-off gain, Cell C reported a small ‘normalised’ loss of ZAR26 million for 2017.