Vodafone reported continued organic service revenue growth in its fiscal third quarter to December, as Europe and Africa offset the downturn in India. Group organic service revenue grew 1.7 percent, with Europe up 0.7 percent and the AMAP region growing 3.9 percent. On a reported basis, sales fell 3.9 percent to EUR 13.7 billion, with a 3.2 percent fall in service revenue.
Organic growth slowed slightly from 1.0 percent in Europe and 7.1 percent in AMAP in fiscal Q2. Italy was the best performer in Europe, with an organic increase of 3.0 percent, followed by Germany up 1.8 percent and Spain 0.8 percent higher. Vodafone said they benefited from stabilising ARPU in postpaid, thanks to improved service plans. Sales in the UK were still down 3.2 percent.
The AMAP region was hit by the tough competition in India from the new entrant Jio, and India service revenue was down 1.9 percent excluding currency effects. Vodafone said it plans new commercial efforts in India in Q4 and is also accelerating its 4G roll-out there, while considering a merger with rival Idea Cellular. The African unit Vodacom still grew 4.0 percent, and revenue in Turkey remained strong at growth of 15.0 percent.
Vodafone also showed continued growth in data services, with traffic up 53 percent from a year ago and 4G customers increasing by 7.6 million to 64.6 million. The total mobile customer base numbered 469.568 million at the end of December, down slightly from three months earlier due to the deconsolidation of the new joint venture in the Netherlands. Fixed broadband customers rose by 417,000 in the three months to 14.322 million, and enterprise revenues were also up 3.3 percent on an organic basis.
For the full year, Vodafone still expects free cash flow of at least EUR 4.0 billion, while organic EBITDA growth will be at the low end of its guidance of 3-6 percent. The continued uncertainty in India should be offset by sustained performance in
