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LONDON, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Vodafone Group, the
world's second largest mobile operator, said it was increasingly
confident about its full-year performance after a "resilient"
first half, despite underlying momentum being obscured by the
impact of COVID-19.
Vodafone nudged up the target range for adjusted core
earnings to between 14.4 billion euros and 14.6 billion euros
for its 2021 financial year, compared to 14.5 billion euros for
the previous year.
For the six months to the end of September, its adjusted
earnings fell by 1.9% to 7.0 billion euros on a 2.3% drop in
group revenue to 21.4 billion euros, as the pandemic impacted
roaming revenue and handset sales.
Chief Executive Nick Read said the results underlined
"increased confidence" in the outlook and demonstrated progress
in increasing customer loyalty, growing its fixed broadband base
and delivering 5G efficiently through network sharing.
The slight upgrade to the outlook compared to a previous
forecast for full-year core earnings to be "flat to slightly
down" on the previous year, and analysts were forecasting on
average 14.37 billion euros.
Vodafone also confirmed its full-year free cashflow guidance
of at least 5 billion euros before spectrum and restructuring
costs on Monday.
(Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by Sarah Young)