VODAFONE said it was entering a “new chapter” as a simpler business focused on markets including Germany, Britain and Africa after reporting full-year earnings at the top end of its guidance.
The British mobile and broadband company reported a 3.8 per cent rise in core earnings to 11.4 billion euros for the year ending March. The figure was at the top end of its forecast after a 0.2 billion euro adjustment linked to foreign exchange and inflation in Turkey.
Vodafone said it expected core earnings to rise to between 11.9 billion euros and 12.2 billion euros this year.
Chief executive Margherita Della Valle said the company had been reshaped over the last three years into a simpler business with a stronger growth outlook. She also noted that Vodafone had returned to top-line growth in Germany.
“We are now well set for mid-term growth,” she said on Tuesday.
Last week, Vodafone agreed to buy partner CK Hutchison’s 49 per cent stake in VodafoneThree, taking full ownership of Britain’s biggest mobile operator a year after it was created.
The agreement marked the final step in Della Valle’s plan to focus on Vodafone’s biggest markets. The strategy has already seen the company exit Spain and Italy and agree to sell its 50 per cent stake in Dutch joint venture VodafoneZiggo to partner Liberty Global.
The strategy has also helped lift Vodafone’s shares, which rose to 122 pence on Monday, their highest level since August 2022.
(With inputs from Reuters)
