Oi, described as the largest landline telephone operator in Brazil, has reportedly filed its second request for judicial recovery with the aim of protecting cash resources and avoiding bankruptcy.

On Thursday 2 February Oi and its subsidiaries Portugal Telecom International Finance and Oi Brasil Holdings Cooperatief apparently asked a business court in Rio de Janeiro for « urgent precautionary protection » to suspend some payments.

The order aims to suspend the enforceability of certain obligations and allow the company to continue negotiations with its creditors.

According to Brazilian press reports, the company’s request refers to “the unquestionable success of the first judicial reorganization ». This took place in 2016. However, the company also admits that its financial situation has worsened « due to various unpredictable and uncontrollable factors », which are not detailed in the request. Thus it is again resorting to judicial protection.

The company’s current debt is said to be 29 billion reais (about US$5.7 billion), of which a payment of 600 million reais is due this Sunday.

As we noted in December, although the obligations related to the original recovery plan were deemed by the Seventh Business Court of Rio de Janeiro to have been met, unpaid creditors will still be able to continue to make claims. Oi faced claims from some 65,000 creditors, and not all cases have been settled to date.

Oi has sold many of its assets, notably its mobile operations, a submarine cable company, a fibre optic company and thousands of fixed telephone towers, to deal with its debts. However, it seems as though it may still have some tricky debt management ahead.

Keep up-to-date with all the latest news, articles, event and product updates posted on Developing Telecoms.
Subscribe to our FREE weekly email newsletters for the latest telecom info in developing and emerging markets globally.

Airtel Africa booked higher revenues and profits on the back of rising subscriber numbers and service uptake.

Profit after tax grew 1.7% to US$523 million, while revenue was up more significantly at 12.1% to US$3.9 billion. Revenue grew as the company reported growth across its units.

Mobile services grew across its 14 markets, with Nigeria, its largest market, seeing growth of 20.9%. Whereas East Africa experienced a rise of 11.9% and Francophone Africa by 11.8%. Breaking down mobile services, data revenue was the highest riser at 22.3% while voice services were up by 12.7%.  

The growth coincided with swelling subscriber numbers as the total customer base increased by 10.1% to 138.5 million across Airtel’s footprint. The customer base for data grew 13.6% while mobile money customer was up 22.2%.

CEO Segun Ogunsanya highlighted in a financial call today (Feb 2) the profile of Nigerian customers is shifting. Around 20% are on 4G, 15% use 3G, and the rest of the base is still using 2G phones. The chief executive said this leaves plenty of room for growth by transferring customers over to 4G to gain revenues from services such as mobile finance.

Capex in the last three quarters grew 5.8% to US$457 million, as the group acquired spectrum in Nigeria, DRC, Tanzania, Zambia and Kenya.

Ogunsanya said: “We will continue to invest in expanding our network and evolving our service offerings to further deepen both financial and digital inclusion across our markets. We have especially focused on enhancing our spectrum footprint across all our markets. Over the last nine months we have spent almost $490m on 4G and 5G spectrum across key markets to improve network capacity and quality, future-proof the company for continued growth opportunities and facilitate economic progress in all our markets.

Keep up-to-date with all the latest news, articles, event and product updates posted on Developing Telecoms.
Subscribe to our FREE weekly email newsletters for the latest telecom info in developing and emerging markets globally.

Vodacom Group reported a revenue increase of 14.8% to ZAR30.7 billion (US$1.76bn) driven by the recent acquisition of Vodafone Egypt.

Vodacom Group CEO Shameel Joosub said in a statement, Vodafone Egypt was consolidated into the group on December 8 last year, contributing over ZAR1.8 billion to service revenues, a “key factor” alongside currency gains and “operating model resilience”, for its positive results.

Group service revenue increased by 14.8% year-on-year from ZAR20.6 billion to ZAR23.4 billion, “despite ongoing financial market volatility and weaker prospects for the global economy,” said Joosub.

He added the revenue growth « underscores the ongoing resilience of the Group’s portfolio at a time when economic uncertainty prevails in the face of the war in Ukraine and the supply chain impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.” 

In other financial highlights, service revenue in South Africa grew 3% to ZAR15.4 billion on the back of strong performance in prepaid mobile, while international service revenue grew 18% to ZAR6.9 billion, driven by strong data demand and a weak rand.

Financial services revenue surged 30.6% to ZAR2.6 billion largely due to the demand for services on its M-Pesa platform across its footprint, and double-digit growth in insurance and airtime advance sales in South Africa. The company noted financial services “remains a clear strategic priority” as it proved to be a fast-growing contributor to revenues.  

The company also highlighted its spectrum acquisitions in Tanzania and Mozambique, in what seems to be hints for further capex this year to bolster service quality across its footprint.

Vodacom completed its acquisition of Vodafone Egypt in December after speculation on the future of the unit had been up in the air since talks with STC fell through. 

Keep up-to-date with all the latest news, articles, event and product updates posted on Developing Telecoms.
Subscribe to our FREE weekly email newsletters for the latest telecom info in developing and emerging markets globally.