JSE-listed Blue Label Telecoms on Friday posted a turnaround in earnings during the half-year ended November 30, 2019.
The group’s earnings per share (EPS) and headline earnings per share (HEPS) increased to a positive 34.83c and 39.98c apiece respectively from a loss and headline loss per share of 15.11c and 17.54c in the corresponding period last year.
Core headline earnings for the half-year under review amounted to R390-million, equating to core HEPS of 43.18c, compared with the core headline losses of 13.90c in the prior half-year.
“This was a resilient performance in an adverse economic environment,” said Blue Label joint CEO Brett Levy.
The company reported that no further fair value losses relating to the Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) were recognised during the six months to November, as the exposure was fully accounted for as at May 31.
The prior comparative period reflected fair value losses of R493-million relating to the exposure to SPV1 and SPV2, as well as to the recognition of the group's share of equity accounted losses in Cell C of R133-million.
Blue Label further reported a 10% increase in gross profit to R1.21-billion, as margins increased from 9.75% to 10.52%.
Revenue for the six months under review edged up 2% to R11.5-billion.
Including the gross profit earned on PINless top-ups, prepaid electricity, ticketing and gaming, the effective growth in revenue equated to 12% from R27.1-billion to R30.3-billion.