Data-only operator Rain, in which African Rainbow Capital (ARC) has a 20% interest, has seen growth as customer demand for its product increased significantly.
African Rainbow Capital (ARC), released its interim financial results on Thursday for the six months which ended on December 31, 2020.
According to the company, the strong client growth has resulted in the business reaching positive EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation) for the first time since its formal launch some three years ago.
In a statement, the company said the value of ARC’s investment in Rain increased by R382 million in the six months to December, bringing the value of its shareholding to R3.4bn.
African Rainbow Capital Investments (ARC) is backed by billionaire businessperson Patrice Motsepe and has TymeBank and Rain in its diverse portfolio.
Rain is South Africa’s first telecommunications operator to deploy a commercial 5G network in September 2019.
ARC co-CEO Johan van der Merwe said trading conditions were challenging during the Covid-19 pandemic but some company’s portfolio benefited.
“For those companies adversely impacted by the national lockdown, we – along with the management of the portfolio company – devised suitable interventions,” he said.
ARC co-CEO Johan van Zyl added: “Overall, we are pleased with the performance of ARC Investments. We continue to make headway in a challenging operating environment.”
The company also announced that it has R455m in cash to deploy for future investments.
BUSINESS REPORT ONLINE