Blue Label Telecoms [JSE:BLU] expects its earnings for the six months ended 30 November 2019 to increase by at least 20%, it said in a shareholder notice on Thursday afternoon.

Last year, the group opted to fully impair its exposure to troubled cellphone operator Cell C.

"For the six months ended 30 November 2018, fair value losses totaling R493m [...] and the Group's share of equity accounted losses in Cell C amounting to R133m were recognised. No further fair value losses related to the SPV's were recognised in the current reporting period as the exposure to the SPV's has been fully accounted for as at 31 May 2019.

"As the carrying value of Blue Label's investment in Cell C was fully impaired for the year ended 31 May 2019, the financial results of Cell C during the current period will not have an impact on Blue Label's earnings for the current reporting period. The above two factors are the primary contributors to the expected growth in earnings," it said.

In 2019, Blue Label had warned that it might report a headline loss of as much as 314c per share, down from a profit of 115c the previous year, with revenue down 3% to R25.9bn. It had taken a battering from its 45% stake in Cell C, as well as reporting losses from GloCell and payment solutions group Oxigen India.

Thursday's shareholder notice said basic earnings per share were expected to improve by at least 2.52 cents, headline earnings per share improving by at least 3.00 cents and core headline earnings per share improving by at least 2.28 cents.

"As the carrying value of Blue Label's investment in Cell C was fully impaired for the year ended 31 May 2019, the financial results of Cell C during the current period will not have an impact on Blue Label's earnings for the current reporting period," Blue Label said.

At 14:00, the Blue Label share was trading slightly lower - down 0.32% - at R3.15 per share.