As SA's telecoms giant looks to invest in its network, it raised R1 billion in its first bond sale of 2018.
It has been five years since Telkom, South Africa’s biggest landline provider, which is 40 percent owned by the government, sold debt; something it began doing again in 2017.
The telecoms company, which is making huge investments in its network in a challenge to rivals Cell C, MTN and Vodacom, has raised R4.3 billion from nine bonds in 12 months. An increase in customers led to a need for investment to cope with the additional traffic, which put a strain on Telkom’s cash reserves.
According to Bloomberg, the bond sales included a R654 million rand floating-rate note maturing in March 2019, along with a R346 million bond with a 7.84 percent coupon, maturing on 21September.
Pictured: Deon Fredericks, Telkom Group CFO
