CELL C, South Africa's fourth-largest mobile operator, is confident it will have enough cash to settle its shareholder debt due in the next three to five years, as it continues to execute a turnaround plan, its top executives told Reuters.
Under CEO Jorge Mendes, the once struggling company is going through another recapitalisation aimed at gaining financial independence from majority shareholder Blue Label Telecom.
Mendes said the group's free cash flow before debt obligations is expected to turn positive in about two months, while its operational cash flow is basically positive, chief financial officer, El Kope, added.
Thats a very good position, because that allows us to stop borrowing money to run the business, Mendes said in an interview late on Wednesday.
Now we start looking at ways of how to sort out longer-term debts, shareholder loans, but not at the risk of compromising the operational business.
