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Crystal Telecom’s share price on the Rwanda Stock Exchange rose significantly last week ahead of MTN Rwanda (MTN Rwandacell Plc)’s listing scheduled for 4th May 2021.

The prices have jumped from Rwf95 per share which has been constant for the last 12 months or so. As the closing bell rung on Friday 23rd April, the prices were at Rwf200.

The jump followed details that emerged on Monday last week that 1,350,886,600 ordinary shares will be registered with the RSE at an initial listing price of Rwf269 per ordinary share.

This means an increase of nearly three times.

The revelation enabled members of the public to gain insights into the valuation of the company, as one of the most valuable firms in the country.  

The total market capitalization of MTN Rwanda (MTN Rwandacell Plc) is Rwf 363,388,495,400, making it one of the top firms in the country.

The listing will see 20 per cent of MTN Rwanda’s shareholding held by CTL directly held by the public.

On listing, a total of 270,177,320 shares will be available for trading at RSE representing 20 per cent of the firm.

The rest of the shares will be held by MTN REL (Mauritius) Limited, 337,721,650 shares (25 per cent) and MTN International (Mauritius) Limited 742,987,630 (55 per cent).

Considering that CTL shareholders will become direct shareholders in MTN Rwanda and be able to trade their MTN Rwanda shares on the RSE, demand has gone up and is likely to remain so on Monday.

MTN Rwanda registered an after-tax profit of Rwf20.2Bn in 2020 compared to Rwf6.81B in 2019, a growth of close to 200 per cent.

Key drivers were an increase in revenue of 21 per cent year-on-year from voice, data and financial services. 2020 profit before tax was Rwf32.61B with revenues of Rwf 152.01Bn. The firm has assets of about Rwf288.71Bn.

MTN Rwanda is projecting profit after tax of about Rwf 23.7B in 2021.

The demand of the telco’s shares could largely be propelled by the growth of the telecommunication sector which is estimated to account for close to 2.6 per cent of the country’s GDP with the sector having a subscriber base of over 80 per cent of the population.

Monday, 26th April will be the last day for trading Crystal Telecom shares and two days allowed for settlement.

RSE Chief Executive Pierre-Célestin Rwabukumba said that the growth in demand and consequent price jump is resultant of the available information that points to the firm’s valuation. The current activity, he said, is as a result of the rush before close of CTL trading on Monday.

"We had allowed one week for price discovery and market feel and market forces. CTL will close on Monday, settlement for 2 days up to Wednesday,” he said.

According to the Rwanda Stock Exchange Market Report for Friday 23rd April, the Crystal Telecom Counter closed at Rwf200 with the day’s trading session recording a total turnover of Rwf20,462,000 from 113,500 shares traded in 5 deals. On Crystal Telecom Counter, there were outstanding offers of 828,700 shares between Rwf200-255 and an outstanding bid of 2,600 shares at Rwf180.

With that, the value of the shares is likely to go up on Monday before the close of trading.