Blue Label in global spread
Significant demand for delivery of prepaid products
BLUE LABEL Telecoms has announced that it was planning to extend its global footprint of touch points, both organically and acquisitively, to fulfil the significant demand for the delivery of multiple prepaid products and services.
The group said the new initiatives at Blue Label Mexico, including the escalation of starter pack distribution, would contribute to a reduction in losses that have arisen from its aggressive roll-out strategy.
Announcing its results for the year end to May, the group said Oxigen Services India would focus on enhancing its mobile wallet subscriber base, with increased marketing to the vast unbanked population in India.
It said this would result in growth in transactional rev- enue and the intrinsic value of the wallet subscriber base which has accumulated to 22.6 million active wallets at present. The company said it was well positioned to meet the increased demand for low cost smart phones and tablets through its extensive distribution network in South Africa and beyond its borders.
“The distribution of prepaid electricity will continue to grow, through enhanced government initiatives to roll out additional prepaid electricity meters throughout South Africa,” it said.
Blue Label share price has risen more than 87 percent in the last six months since it announced that it wanted to buy a 35 percent stake in mobile operator Cell C for R4 billion in December.
The expected acquisition has partly enabled the com- pany to record a 22 percent growth in profits to R668 million for the year to end May.
The group also said headline earnings per share rose 22 percent to 100.35 cents per share while revenue increased by 19 percent to R26.2bn, up from R22bn reported a year ago.
Joint chief executives Brett Levy and Mark Levy said the group’s performance was primarily attributable to organic growth underpinned by an expanding multitude of distribution channels. This in turn led to a growth in its market share.
Blue Label said its core business is the virtual distribution of secure electronic tokens of value, predominantly prepaid airtime, electricity and ticketing, and transactional services across its global footprint of touch points.
Its current dividend policy was to declare an annual dividend which the board approved at a gross of 36c per ordinary share, up from 30.6c per ordinary share as compared to 2015.
For a year ahead the participation in the recapitalisation of Cell C by way of subscription of shares progressed as expected. “Management are of the opinion that the transaction is compelling both from an investment and commercial perspective,” the group said.
Shares closed 1.64 percent higher yesterday at R18.60.