Vodafone Ireland sees customer numbers grow in third quarter

Vodafone Ireland said its service revenue rose in its third quarter as growth returned to its mobile market, with both consumer and enterprise sectors showing improvement.

The telecoms company said it increased customer numbers during the quarter, with mobile customers rising by 13,000 and fixed broadband customers up by 6,000.

Vodafone said it recorded service revenue of €240.4 million for the three-month period, a rise of 3.4 per cent year on year and the second quarter in a row that the company recorded growth.

In the enterprise sector, mobile service revenue rose by 6.9 per cent in the quarter, buoyed by growth in new customers.

Vodafone continued to shift customers from pay as you go plans to contracts, with the number of mobile customers paying by monthly bills rising by almost 60,000 year on year, representing both new and existing customers of the mobile network.

There was strong momentum in Vodafone Ireland’s fixed business too, with revenue rising almost 13 per cent.

The Irish subsidiary recently unveiled its plans for TV services, and introduced a fibre broadband product as part of a joint venture with ESB.

Vodafone Ireland chief executive Anne O’Leary said the company would continue to invest in its services.

“Our performance in this quarter continues the positive upward momentum in our financial year to date and reflects both the ongoing strength of our core mobile business, as well as the future growth potential across our converged service offerings,” she said.

The company’s annual report showed a decline in profit in its previous fiscal year as costs rose. Turnover was relatively static at €949 million, but both cost of sales and operating costs were higher compared to a year earlier. That le to preta profit falling to €60.4 million in 2015, from €79.5 million in 2014.

The company paid €12 million in tax in 2015, including €7.5 million in corporation tax, and incurred an actuarial loss on its defined benefit pension scheme of almost €75 million.

Vodafone Ireland employs more than 880 people, according to its accounts.

At a group level, Vodafone met expectations with a 1.4 per cent rise in revenue in its third quarter, its sixth consecutive quarter of growth, as recovery in Europe gained pace.

The group reported organic service revenue of £9.2 billion, in line with analyst forecasts, and said it was on track to deliver full-year core earnings of between £11.7 billion and £12 billion.

Chief executive Vittorio Colao said a multi-billion pound upgrade of Vodafone's networks was paying off, with the firm able to meet growing demand for data.

“We continue to face regulatory and competitive challenges in many markets, but we are confident that the business is well positioned for the growth opportunities ahead,” he said.

Earlier this week Vodafone said it had restarted talks with Liberty Global, the cable company it was considering joining forces with last year to offer more packages of TV, broadband and mobile in European markets.

This time, however, it said the talks were limited to the Netherlands.

Additional reporting: Reuters