(Alliance News) - Vodafone Group PLC reported on Tuesday a drop in annual pretax profit but saw revenue growth off the strength higher equipment revenue and growth in Europe and Africa.
The Newbury, England-based telecommunications company reported a pretax profit of EUR3.95 billion in the year ended March 31. This represented a 10% fall against the previous year's figure of EUR4.40 billion.
Revenue increased by 4.0% to EUR45.6 billion from EUR43.8 billion. This, Vodafone explained, was as a result of service revenue growth in Europe and Africa and higher equipment revenue.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation after leases stood at EUR15.2 billion, within the company's updated guidance range of EUR15.21 billion to EUR15.4 billion given in November and 5.0% higher than the EUR14.39 billion achieved the previous year.
Through the year Vodafone said it had seen lower customer churn and good results from its increased capital investments, with improvements in network quality and financial services in Africa.
There was no further updates on its new largest shareholder, Emirates Telecommunications, in the strong results.
Emirates Telecom, formerly known as Etisalat, has taken a 9.8% shareholding but said it has no plans to make a takeover offer.
On Saturday, it said subsidiary Atlas 2022 Holdings Ltd purchased 2.77 billion Vodafone shares for about USD4.4 billion, praising the quality of the business and its brand.
Looking forward, Chief Executive Nick Read said: "We are focused on improving the commercial performance in Germany, actively pursuing opportunities with Vantage Towers and strengthening our market positions in Europe. These actions, together with the simplification of our portfolio and the ongoing delivery of our organic growth strategy, will create further value for our shareholders."
Read added that the company is well positioned to manage macroeconomic challenges coming form Europe and Africa as it moves forward. It expects adjusted Ebitdaal between EUR15.0 billion to EUR15.5 billion in financial 2023.
Vodafone posted a total payout of 9.0 EUR cents per share for the year, unchanged from the year before and including a final dividend of 4.5 cents per share.
Shares in Vodafone were down 2.0% at 117.66 pence on Tuesday morning in London.
By Heather Rydings; heatherrydings@alliancenews.com
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