JOHANNESBURG: South Africa’s Telkom , the country’s third-biggest telecoms operator, said on Wednesday its interim profit could rise by almost 50%, led by lower depreciation and improved performance, sending shares up 7% in early trade.

The company has seen its market value more than halve from the highs of 2021 as it struggled to gain market share dominated by larger rivals Vodacom and MTN.

It booked an impairment of 13 billion rand ($712.12 million) on its legacy copper business last year, pushing profits down by more than three quarters and cancelling dividends.

For the six months ended Sept. 30, Telkom is expected to report a headline earnings per share – a profit measure – of between 1.86 rand and 1.99 rand, up 40% to 50% over a restated profit of 1.33 rand, it said.

Analysts had predicted that Telkom’s profits would jump in the six months and full year as its depreciation would fall on account of last year’s impairment. The better gauge to watch out for will be its cash flows, they said.

The company will announce its results on Nov. 21.