Vodafone meets market expectations
Updated on 19 July 2007
Mobile phone giant Vodafone said its markets in Europe continued to be challenging as it posted figures in line with expectations.
The group added 9.1 million mobile subscribers in the three months to June 30, helped by a strong performance from its emerging markets region, where revenues were up by 18.7% in the group's first quarter.
In Europe, where the company is faced with cut-throat competition and a saturated market, revenues were 1.1% higher.
Chief executive Arun Sarin said the company had made a good start to the financial year, prompting him to reiterate profits guidance for the year.
Vodafone expects revenues for the year to be in the range of £33.3 billion and £34.1 billion, with adjusted operating profits between £9.3 billion and £9.8 billion. Its overall customer base stood at 232 million at the end of June, with group revenues for the quarter up by 7.5% at £8.25 billion.
Attention will now turn to the company's annual general meeting next week, when activist shareholders are expected to call for an overhaul of the group amid concerns over Vodafone's faltering share price.
Investors want to see Vodafone spin-off its 45% stake in Verizon Wireless, the American mobile phone group.
In the UK, Vodafone said customer numbers stood at 17.6 million, following 236,000 net additions in the period between April and June.
Average monthly revenues per user stood at £23.10, up on the previous quarter but down on the £23.70 seen a year earlier. In an effort to encourage greater data usage, Vodafone launched fixed price browsing tariffs in conjunction with partners such as Google, YouTube and MySpace. Such deals are crucial for Vodafone as it looks for new revenues streams in a tight European market.
The group made adjusted pre-tax profits of £8.75 billion in the year to March 31, down 0.5% on a year earlier, although bottom-line losses narrowed to £2.38 billion.
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