Johannesburg - Telecommunications company Celcom Group is to list on the JSE's AltX in late November with a market capitalisation of approximately R204 million, the company said.
On listing the group will be 19.3 percent owned by a black consortium headed by Marcel Golding and former ambassador to the US, Franklin Sonn.
Celcom Group chief executive officer Stefano Brachini said that he and co-founder Luca Brachini will make available a further 6.6 million shares, or 3.2 percent, for sale to BEE partners. This will raise BEE to a 22.5 percent stake in the group after listing. A further 2.6 percent will be held by a staff trust to take the group to the 25.1 percent threshold.
Celcom is set to expand into Africa in time and the company said it is positioned it to capitalise on rampant growth in the cellphone industry and on the global revolution of data transmission over mobile networks.
The group is strategically aligned with the country's three major cellphone network operators - Vodacom, MTN and CellC - and counts amongst its suppliers Nokia, Motorola, Samsung and Sony Ericsson.
Pro forma revenue to June 2006 of R465 million generated earnings of R18.1 million and Celcom Group is expecting the growth trend to continue into 2007 with forecast revenue of R684.3 million and R22 million in core earnings.
Forecasts remain optimistic to June 2008 - close on R1 billion revenue is expected while core earnings are estimated at R27 million.
Brachini explains that growth in profitability is more conservative than revenue growth due to the low margin sales in some of the group's highest growth businesses.
He says that Celcom Group's key strength lies in its mix of established businesses and relatively young ventures and the balance of annuity and high growth income streams.
"With revenue of 101 million rand for 2006 Celcom is approximately twice the size of its closest competitors in South Africa," said Brachini.
Brachini said he was confident of the group's value proposition for investors.
"Management's 12-year history in telecoms enables Celcom Group to anticipate market trends and take early advantage of emerging technologies." - I-Net Bridge