Community Investment Ventures Holdings (CIVH) and Seacom reported sharp increases in contributions to Remgro’s earnings, helped by the completion of the Maziv transaction.
After a four-year battle, Vodacom completed the R13bn merger of its fibre business with that of Remgro’s Maziv by end-2025.
The Stellenbosch-based group said CIVH, its telecom infrastructure unit, which now trades as Maziv, increased its contribution to group headline earnings to R319m, compared with a loss of R93m in the previous comparable period.
Remgro cautioned that CIVH’s results are not “directly comparable with those of the prior year due to the significant [Maziv] transaction”.
Maziv comprises Vumatel, South Africa’s largest fibre-to-the-home network operator; Dark Fibre Africa (DFA), which specialises in providing open-access networks to ISPs and provides fibre services in and between the country’s towns and cities; as well as Herotel, SADV, Rise Telecoms and BritelinkMCT.
In 2025, CIVH also completed the takeover of Herotel. Remgro’s telecom division had initially acquired a 45% noncontrolling stake in fellow fixed internet provider Herotel through its Vumatel unit in February 2022.
The group received pre-implementation dividends from CIVH of R3.055bn on completion of the Vodacom and Herotel transactions.
Remgro owns 57% of CIVH, with the balance held between Harith General Partners (38%) and other investors.
CIVH’s revenue for the 12 months ended in March increased by 13.8% to R7.689bn compared with the previous comparable period. This was due to gains at Maziv, “led by Vumatel, the group’s primary growth engine, with DFA providing a stable, cash-generative infrastructure base”.
In addition to the uplift from the Vodacom deal, increased subscribers at Vumatel and higher demand for DFA’s fibre-to-the-business (FTTB) products helped to push up earnings at the two businesses.
Vumatel’s revenue increased by 15.3% to R4.43bn, while DFA’s income was up 8.9% to R3bn.
For Vumatel, the “healthy revenue growth and a focus on cost management” resulted in an operating profit growth of 57% to R2.157bn for the period, while DFA’s operating profit rose 10.1% to R1.243bn.
CIVH’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) from continuing operations increased by 11.2%, “driven by the acquisition of the Vodacom assets and robust operational performances from each of Maziv’s major fibre businesses”.
Remgro’s other telecom investment, Seacom, also reported a big jump in earnings.
The undersea cable provider’s contribution to group headline earnings amounted to R71m, up from R12m in the prior period. Remgro has classified Seacom under “other infrastructure” due to its “relatively small size” in the portfolio.
Business Day
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.