Blu Label CEOs earn R66million as Cell C subscriber base surges

Cell C delivered stronger revenue, profitability and subscriber growth in the year to May 2026, as its parent company Blu Label Unlimited continued to reshape the telecommunications group.

Blu Label Unlimited’s latest financial results highlight the scale of the turnaround underway at Cell C, alongside significant remuneration for the group’s two chief executives.

Brett Levy and Mark Levy each received total remuneration of approximately R33 million for the financial year ended 31 May 2026, taking their combined remuneration to around R66 million.

The figure was lower than the approximately R37.4 million each received in the previous financial year, with the earlier period benefiting from higher short-term incentive payments.

For the latest year, each CEO’s remuneration included fixed pay of approximately R12.9 million, a short-term incentive of R7.73 million, R11.69 million linked to the 2023 conditional share plan and R681,000 in dividends associated with the plan.

Each executive also received 1,271,901 vested shares valued at R9.19 per share.

Cell C continues its recovery

The remuneration figures come as Cell C reported a significantly stronger operating performance.

Cell C’s revenue increased by 13.5%, rising from R11.1 billion to R12.6 billion for the year. Service revenue increased by 5.6% to approximately R11.6 billion.

The company reported a net profit of R4.16 billion. However, this included R3.02 billion in once-off items, leaving normalised profit at approximately R1.14 billion.

Cell C contributed approximately R614.7 million, or 67.95 cents, to Blu Label Unlimited’s group core headline earnings per share.

The improvement comes as Blu Label continues to consolidate its position in Cell C following changes to the group's corporate structure, including the telecommunications company's return to control of the group and the subsequent delisting process.

Subscriber growth comes with ARPU pressure

One of the most notable developments was Cell C’s increase in its subscriber base.

The operator ended the financial year with approximately 8.884 million subscribers, excluding 5.713 million subscribers associated with mobile virtual network operators.

Its prepaid customer base increased from approximately 6.774 million to 8.068 million.

However, the subscriber gains were accompanied by lower average revenue per user.

Cell C’s overall ARPU declined from R78 to R71.20, while ARPU among new prepaid subscribers was approximately R35.61.

The latter was around 54% below the average generated by the existing subscriber base, highlighting the revenue challenge that can accompany an aggressive push to acquire additional customers.

For Cell C, the figures point to a balancing act between expanding its customer base and increasing the value generated from each subscriber.

Blu Label's broader financial picture

At group level, Blu Label Unlimited reported gross revenue of approximately R99.9 billion, representing a 7% increase.

Normalised revenue stood at around R9.4 billion.

Reported revenue, however, declined from R14.05 billion to approximately R13.05 billion, reflecting the impact of changes to the group's structure, including the consolidation of Cell C, the delisting and the disposal of CEC.

The group reported a net loss of approximately R4.88 billion for the period.

Blu Label's financial results therefore present a mixed picture at group level, while Cell C's underlying operating metrics show continued improvement in several key areas.

The telecommunications business is generating higher revenue, growing its prepaid customer base and returning to profitability on a normalised basis. At the same time, declining ARPU illustrates the pressure operators face when customer growth is concentrated among lower-value subscribers.

For the South African telecommunications market, Cell C's performance remains significant as the operator continues to rebuild its position in a highly competitive market while Blu Label Unlimited integrates the business more deeply into its broader group strategy.

Source: Blu Label Unlimited Integrated Report for the financial year ended 31 May 2026.