BERLIN: International mobile communications giant Vodafone posted a trading update for the quarter to 31 December on Thursday, reporting 1.7% growth in group organic service revenue, with Europe accounting for 0.7% of that growth and Africa, Middle East and Asia-Pacific (AMAP) 3.9%.
The FTSE 100 firm said its European growth continued as average revenue per user (ARPU) stabilised, with Italy up 3.0%, Germany up 1.8%, Spain 0.8% firmer, and the UK falling 3.2%. It said growth in AMAP slowed due to competition in India, with a 1.9% fall in that country, 4.0% growth at Vodacom, and 15% growth in Turkey.
On a reported, balance sheet basis, group revenue was down 3.9% during the period, with Europe falling 4.6% year-on-year to €8.88bn and AMAP off 2.4% to €4.48bn. Its alternative performance measure, group service revenue, was also down 3.2% across the group, with Europe falling 3.6% to €8.06bn and AMAP down 2% at €3.98bn.
Ongoing 4G adoption was driving data growth, the board reported, with 4G customers up 7.6 million to 64.6 million and data volumes up 53% during the period.
Vodafone reported strong fixed momentum led by Italy and Spain, with 417,000 total broadband net adds of which 262,000 were on-net. Its enterprise outperformance continued as well, with growth of 3.3% driven by fixed market share gains and AMAP mobile.
The company confirmed its full-year guidance, with free cash flow of at least €4bn and the board expecting to hit the lower end of its organic EBITDA growth range of 3-6%.
“Our overall performance in Europe and Africa remained strong during the third quarter, reflecting good execution,” said group CEO Vittorio Colao.
“In Europe, service revenue growth continued, led by Italy, Germany and Spain. Mobile contract ARPU continued to stabilise, reflecting the successful adoption of our ‘more-for-more’ propositions, while we remain Europe’s fastest growing broadband company, illustrating our effective convergence strategy.
