Vodafone beats expectations as it continues to monitor Brexit implications
Vodafone beat expectations with a 4.3 per cent growth in earnings in the six months to September.
The figures
The telecoms giant reported group revenue of €27.1bn (£23.4bn), down 3.9 per cent on the same period of last year.
But organic earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) came in at €7.9bn, beating an analyst consensus of €7.8bn, according to Thomson Reuters.
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Vodafone slightly lowered its full-year Ebitda expectations from €15.7-16.2bn to €15.7-16.1bn.
In the UK alone, revenue was €3.6bn, while Ebitda was reported at €674m, down 27.5 per cent.
Why it’s interesting
Vodafone was one of the biggest companies to indicate it would consider moving its global headquarters from London in the aftermath of the EU referendum.
After the UK voted for Brexit, the telecoms giant said it was “not yet possible to draw any firm conclusions regarding the long-term location for the headquarters of the group”.
The company said today: “The referendum does not change our commitment to our UK customers, our investment plans for our UK business or have any immediate material impact or change to any of our principal risks, however we have a set up a cross functional working group to monitor the implications of the Brexit negotiations for us.”
Read more: Vodafone fined £4.6m for taking customers' money and service failings
What the company said
Group chief executive Vittorio Colao said:
Overall, we expect to sustain our underlying performance in the second half of the year and remain on track to meet our full-year objectives despite macroeconomic uncertainties. This performance allows for improved returns to our shareholders, as reflected by the growth in the interim dividend.