Fall in mobile customers at Vodafone

VODAFONE IRELAND has reported a fall in mobile customer numbers for the three-month period to the end of June.

The company said Irish customer numbers fell by 46,000 to 2.12 million in the period and that service revenues had declined due to recessionary and competitive factors. Business customers had been particularly hard hit, it said.

Vodafone yesterday reported group sales in line with market expectations for the quarter to end-June, as strength in India and Africa compensated for weakness in Europe. The group, the first of Europe’s major telecoms carriers to report this quarter, reiterated its reduced full-year guidance for, at best, flat profits.

Organic service revenue fell 2.1 per cent, but reported group revenue rose 9.3 per cent to £10.7 billion (€12.4 billion), thanks to positive currency effects and a higher stake in South Africa’s Vodacom.

“The service revenue trend in Europe was consistent with the previous quarter, and we continued to see good growth in India and South Africa,” chief executive Vittorio Colao said.

Organic revenue fell in Spain and Britain, as expected, and fell 4.8 per cent in Germany, driven by cuts in mobile termination charges, reduced roaming, and lower spend by prepay customers.

Vodafone’s data revenue grew 19 per cent organically to £888 million. Free cashflow rose 21 per cent to £1.896 billion, while the company’s net debt at June 30th stood at £31.2 billion. – (Additional reporting Reuters)