Operating profit rose 42.9 per cent in the first fiscal quarter, boosted by the sale of an 18 per cent stake in Indus Towers.
The Vodafone communications group’s revenues rose 2.8 per cent year-on-year in the first fiscal quarter, from April to June, to 9036 million euros, according to preliminary information released this Thursday.
The company, which didn’t provide figures on profits, said that the higher revenues from organic services were offset by adverse movements in exchange rates.
Operating profit rose 42.9 per cent to 1545 million euros, driven mainly by a gain of 700 million euros from the sale of an 18 per cent stake in Indus Towers, which left Vodafone with 3.1 per cent.
The group also announced a few days ago the sale, for 1.3 billion euros, of 10 per cent of its stake in European mobile tower operator Vantage Towers, achieving a joint ownership structure of 50 per cent.
Vodafone has started a share buyback process for 2000 million euros after completing the sale of Vodafone Spain to British fund Zegona in May for 5000 million euros, according to the statement.
The company also hopes to close a merger with Three UK in the UK by the end of the year, which will give it 51 per cent of the combined company, with 49 per cent in the CK Hutchison group.
Vodafone’s CEO, Margherita Della Valle, said in a statement that the performance in the first fiscal quarter ‘is consistent’ with the guidance for the year.
‘We continue to show strong revenue growth in Africa and Turkey, while lower inflation is slowing revenue growth in Europe and accelerating the group’s EBITDA growth,’ said the CEO.
The group’s service revenues ‘grew by 5.4 per cent, although in Germany we saw an expected drop in service revenues following the ongoing impact of the change in the TV law,’ she continues.
‘We continue to make progress on our transactions in Italy and the UK, as well as on Vodafone’s wider transformation, focussed on customer experience, business growth and operational execution in Germany. The actions we are taking now will deliver improved performance and support Vodafone’s recovery,’ the manager concludes.
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