TELKOM, South Africa’s third-biggest telecom company, reported flat third-quarter core profit on Monday, as cost-reduction initiatives partially offset inflationary pressures, expenses due to power cuts and increased bad debt provisions.
The earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was stable at R2.5 billion ($132.45 million) in the three months ended December 31, the company said in a statement.
But the resulting EBITDA margin at 21.9% decreased, largely affected by product mix at its information and communications technology, or ICT, business BCX, higher-than-expected credit losses on trade receivables as retail and enterprises customers remained under pressure from the weak macroeconomic environment.
Overall group revenue ticked up 2% to R11.3 billion, driven by compelling data-connectivity propositions from the operator’s mobile and fixed networks. – moneyweb.co.za