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Vodafone’s Irish income fell 6.6% in first half of its financial year

Lower roaming revenue and higher competition affected Irish figures, says mobile operator

Vodafone’s Irish revenues declined to €396 million in the six months to the end of September, down from €424 million a year earlier

Mon Nov 16 2020 - 16:40

Vodafone’s Irish revenues declined by 6.6 per cent in the the first half of its financial year, according to the telco’s latest global results.

Revenues here (before mergers and acquisitions) declined to €396 million in the six months to the end of September, down from €424 million a year earlier.

In the first quarter, revenues fell to €195 million from €209 million a year earlier, while in the second quarter its income reduced to €201 million from €215 million.

Vodafone said the Irish performance reflected "lower roaming and visitor revenue and higher competitive intensity, partially offset by an increase in the mobile contract customer base following the successful launch of unlimited data tariffs".

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At group level, Vodafone, the world’s second-largest mobile operator, said it was increasingly confident about its full-year performance after a “resilient” first half, despite underlying momentum being obscured by the impact of Covid-19.

Target range

Vodafone nudged up the target range for adjusted core earnings to between €14.4 billion and €14.6 billion for its 2021 financial year, compared to €14.5 billion for the previous year.

For the six months to the end of September, its adjusted earnings fell by 1.9 per cent to €7 billion on a 2.3 per cent drop in group revenue to €21.4 billion, as the pandemic impacted roaming revenue and handset sales.

Chief executive Nick Read said the results underlined “increased confidence” in the outlook and demonstrated progress in increasing customer loyalty, growing its fixed broadband base and delivering 5G efficiently through network sharing.

The slight upgrade to the outlook compared to a previous forecast for full-year core earnings to be “flat to slightly down” on the previous year, and analysts were forecasting on average €14.37 billion.

Vodafone also confirmed its full-year free cashflow guidance of at least €5 billion before spectrum and restructuring costs on Monday. – Additional reporting: Reuters

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