South African mobile operator Cell C says it has grown its subscriber base by an additional 1.5 million in the past three months to 18.1 million at 30 June 2014.<\/p>\n
The group also confirmed on Friday that it will extend the maturity date of Euro 160 million (R2.26 billion) of senior debt.<\/p>\n
As a part of the transaction, Cell C, said it has offered to buy back debt from any bond holder who does not wish to extend.<\/p>\n
“The expected extension is further confirmation of the confidence that funders have in the future of Cell C and will enable Cell C to continue to invest heavily in its network infrastructure in support of its business plan,” the group said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe extension will allow Cell C to channel equity and cash generated in the business to increase its capacity to continue to grow the company,\u201d said Jose Dos Santos, Cell C CEO.<\/p>\n
In May, South Africa\u2019s third mobile operator said it signed up a record 1.6 million new subscribers in March 2014, taking its total subscriber base to 16.6 million.<\/p>\n
Cell C said it had 13.6 million subscribers by the end of 2013, with a net addition of 3.5 million users during the year.<\/p>\n
Dos Santos said that the group\u2019s capex forecast for 2014 is at R2.3 billion in 2014.<\/p>\n
He defended the firm\u2019s financial position, which has come under question in recent times. He said that far back as 2009 Cell C has been under pressure from the media about its survival. \u201cFrom 2009, when speculation started, we have still survived,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn 2013, we received an injection of R2.6 billion, with a further injection of R1.5 billion in 2014 so far,\u201d Dos Santos said.<\/p>\n
In a quarterly update on Thursday, rival operator Vodacom, reported a local subscriber base of 32.5 million.<\/p>\n
In April, MTN reported that its South African operation reduced subscriber numbers by 824,768, bringing total subscribers to 24.9 million for the period ended March 2014.<\/p>\n
Telkom’s mobile business has 1.8 million subscribers, as reported in June.<\/p>\n
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