Vodafone CEO says still active in talks in four markets

LONDON, May 17 (Reuters) - The chief executive of Vodafone said the group was still pursuing opportunities to strengthen its position in the four markets it singled out earlier in the year, namely Britain, Italy, Spain and Portugal.

"There are opportunities across four markets that we are pursuing, and we're engaged with a number of players in those opportunities," Nick Read told reporters on an earnings call.

"Clearly it's a more challenging macro economic backdrop, and so that will have a factor on some of the players' decisions, but overall we continue to make good progress on those discussions." (Reporting by Paul Sandle, Editing by Kylie MacLellan)