Vodafone reported a small slow down in organic growth in the December quarter, but maintained its guidance for the full year. Organic service revenue rose 1.1 percent to EUR 10.2 billion, down from 1.3 percent growth in the previous quarter. European growth slowed to 0.3 percent, while the AMAP region improved to 6.8 percent growth.
Total reported revenues fell 3.6 percent to EUR 11.797 billion, and service revenues were down 6.1 percent to EUR 10.189 billion due to negative currency effects and the deconsolidation of Vodafone Netherlands.
Vodafone said European growth was dampened by negative effects from regulation and UK handset financing. A robust performance in Germany was offset by lapping of tariff changes in Italy and higher promotional intensity in Spain. Vodacom led the improvement in AMAP revenues, helping offset the intense price competition and lower termination rates in India.
In the fixed market, Vodafone added a net 379,000 new broadband customers in the three months, for a total of 15.7 million. Fixed service revenues were up 4.4 percent on an organic basis and contributed 25 percent of group revenue. The operator also counted 4.3 million converged customers, taking both fixed and mobile services.
Mobile customers increased by 1.16 million to 276.86 million, and Vodafone said it passed 100 million 4G customers during the quarter. Data traffic grew 61 percent in Q3 (Europe: 59%, AMAP: 64%), led by a five-fold increase in India after the drop in tariffs there. Vodafone customers now average 2.4 GB each per month.
For the full fiscal year to march, Vodafone reiterated its guidance for organic adjusted EBITDA growth of around 10 percent and free cash flow excluding spectrum costs of over EUR 5 billion.
