LONDON (Alliance News) - Vodafone Group PLC on Thursday confirmed its full-year guidance, as the mobile operator saw its group organic service revenue rise 1.4% in its financial third quarter and it cited continued recovery in Europe.
For the quarter to end-December, Vodafone reported a 5.5% decline in total revenue, hit by foreign exchange rate movements. However, on an organic basis, at constant currency and adjusting for merger and acquisition activity, service revenue was up 1.4%.
Vodafone highlighted continued recovery in services revenue in Europe, saying its organic service revenue fell only 0.6% in the quarter, compared to a 1.0% fall in the second quarter.
Elsewhere, the company said it has continued to make "very good progress" in its massive investment programme Project Spring, and it is now nearing the end of the deployment phase, adding 165,000 mobile sites, modernising 102,000 sites and upgrading 91,000 sites since the project began.
Vodafone said its performance continues to be in line with its expectations, and it therefore continues to expected full-year earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation in the range of GBP11.7 billion to GBP12.0 billion, broadly in line with the GBP11.9 billion it reported in the previous financial year.
"Customers are increasingly recognising the quality of our networks, leading to strong growth in data usage and benefiting from the significant investments in 4G and fibre that we have made over the last two years. We continue to face regulatory and competitive challenges in many markets, but we are confident that the business is well positioned for the growth opportunities ahead," said Chief Executive Vittorio Colao in a statement.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; hanassmith@alliancenews.com; @HanaSSAllNews
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