Vodacom shares off amid Cell C battle
Shares in mobile operator Vodacom continued to lose ground in afternoon trade on the JSE on Tuesday (17 July), as the group continues its price war with Cell C – while the resignation of CEO Pieter Uys also weighed.
By 16:00, shares in Vodacom declined R2.18, or 2.35% to R90.62, down from R98.14 on 12 June, and from a monthly best of R98.50 recorded on 5 July. It is also some way off its year best price of R108.50 reached in early April.
The All Share Index gained 0.3% to 33,828 points.
Vodacom has a market cap of R134.8 billion.
A dealer at PSG Konsult told BusinessTech that Vodacom is engaged in a price war with rival Cell C, and has subsequently been forced to slash the prices of a number of its products, which would previously have been factored into their returns. “This price war has put pressure on the pricing of its services, and the resignation of Pieter Uys will not be helping its cause,” he said.
On Saturday (14 July), as part of an Olympic promotional offer, Vodacom slashed the price of UK roaming rates for customers travelling to the United Kingdom (UK).
Uys led Vodacom’s debut listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, achieving a shareholder return of 96% since listing. He is to be replaced by Shameel Joosub, the company announced (5 July 2012). Joosub is the current CEO of Vodafone Spain, and previously served as the MD of Vodacom.
Shares in Telkom, meanwhile, continued to fall priced at levels last recorded a decade ago, at R18.11, off an additional 11 cents on the day. MTN gave back 38 cents, to R143.83.
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