Celtel Zambia has announced plans to spend some US$70 million on its network this year in an effort to boost its subscriber base from 2.3 million to 2.7 million. Announcing its first results since the company was listed on the local stock exchange, the firm reported net profit for the six months to June rose to ZMK118.3 billion (US$34.3 million) compared to ZMK102.9 billion (US$29.9 million) in the same period last year.
The company, which controlled by Zain, offered 20% of its stock for the floatation. The sale was three-times oversubscribed from both domestic and overseas investors. The current shareholder profile is 78.9% held by Zain – via Celtel International, 20% in free float and 1.1% held by the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
Celtel Zambia MD David Venn said “Customer numbers exceeded 2.3 million in June (from) 1,6-million in June 2007 (and) 1,9-million in December 2007. We are optimistic we will reach our target of 2,7-million in December,”
Venn however warned that the high taxes on imports of network infrastructure kit, of 25% was hampering the company’s plans. The company is lobbying the government to have this tax lowered, and also on licenses for 3G services.
