Even growth in Europe fails to help Vodafone
EVEN Vodafone’s recovery in Europe couldn’t help the world’s second largest mobile operator stem a revenue decline in its third quarter.
The global telecoms giant yesterday announced its main organic service revenue measurement, which strips out items like handset sales and currency movements, fell 0.4 per cent in the three months to the end of December to £9.78bn.
“In Europe, improved commercial execution in both mobile and fixed over the last few quarters, combined with strong data demand and a more stable pricing environment, is supporting the steady recovery in the top line,” said chief executive Vittorio Colao.
Vodafone reported a 0.9 per cent growth in UK revenues to £1.5bn during the quarter, while its largest market Germany saw revenue decline by a per cent to £1.9bn, less than expected. Spain and Italy declined by 8.9 per cent and 7.4 per cent respectively.
Vodafone reaffirmed its target to deliver between £11.6bn and £11.9bn in core profits for its 2015 financial year. Shares in the group fell 2.37 per cent to 230.9p yesterday.