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Vodafone PLC on Tuesday reported a return to growth in Germany, as it delivered full-year results slightly ahead of its expectations. Shares in Vodafone rose 2.5% to 71.72 pence in London on Tuesday morning. The Newbury, Berkshire-based telecommunications provider said pretax profit fell 88% to €1.62 billion in the financial year that ended March 31 from €13.07 billion the year prior. Vodafone said this primarily reflects business disposals in the prior financial year, in particular the €8.6 billion gain on the disposal of Vantage Towers. Revenue declined by 2.5% to €36.72 billion from €37.67 billion a year prior, reflecting the disposals of Vantage Towers, Vodafone Hungary and Vodafone Ghana in the prior financial year and adverse currency movements. Group service revenue increased by 6.3% to €29.91 billion from €30.32 billion, with Europe, Africa and its Business division all growing, Vodafone said. Earnings per diluted share fell to 4.44 euro cents down from 43.51 cents. Vodafone declared an unchanged total dividend 9.0 cents per share, including a final dividend of 4.5 cents. The company confirmed it will rebase its annual dividend to 4.5 euro cents per share from financial year 2025 onward with an ambition to ‘grow it over time.’ ‘The new dividend has been set at a sustainable level, which ensures appropriate cash flow cover and sufficient flexibility to invest in the business for growth,’ Vodafone said. Vodafone made this pledge in March when it announced the sale of its Italian business to Swisscom AG for €8 billion. Vodafone said its business in Germany returned to growth with service revenue increasing by 0.2% for the full year and 0.6% for the fourth quarter. However adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortization and adjusted loss remained under pressure, declining by 5.8% due to higher energy and other inflationary costs, Vodafone remarked. The company highlighted continued acceleration in business-to-business revenue throughout the year, 5.0% growth, supported by strong demand for digital services. Chief Executive Margherita Della Valle said Vodafone was ‘delivering growth in all of our markets across Europe and Africa.’ She said the performance was ‘slightly ahead of expectations’ but stressed ‘much more still needs to be done.’ ‘We will step-up investment in our customer experience, improve our underlying performance in Germany and accelerate our momentum in Business, whilst also continuing to simplify our operations throughout the group. We are fundamentally transforming Vodafone for growth,’ she added. In financial 2025, Vodafone expects adjusted Ebitdaal to be around €11 billion and adjusted free cash flow to be at least €2.4 billion. For financial 2024, Vodafone reported adjusted Ebitdaal of €11.02 billion and adjusted free cash flow of €2.60 billion. Vodafone said its priorities for the year ahead include: stepping-up its operational performance in Germany; further strengthening its capabilities in Vodafone Business; completing the commercialisation of its shared operations; and completing its in-flight portfolio transformation. Copyright 2024 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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