Vodafone returns to revenues growth
Mobile phone giant Vodafone today said service revenues had grown for the first time since the global recession hit.
The firm reported a rise of 1.1% to £10.6bn (€12.6bn) in the second quarter following further robust growth in emerging markets and strong sales of smartphones in the UK.
Vodafone’s domestic business delivered a third successive improvement in revenues trends and returned to year-on-year growth with a rise of 0.7% to £1.19bn (€1.42bn) in the quarter to June 30.
Chief executive Vittorio Colao said: “These are the first quarterly results to show service revenue growth since the global recession impacted.
“We have achieved these results through our continuing commercial approach in key European markets, focusing especially on data, and from strong growth in emerging markets.”
Vodafone Ireland now has 2.15 million customers in the quarter ended June 30, 2010.
The company’s fixed line and DSL business stood at 197,859 at the end of the quarter, bringing Vodafone Ireland’s total telecoms base to 2.35 million as of June 30.
In the last quarter, Vodafone Ireland customers used 17% more texts and 3% more voice minutes than in the same quarter the previous year, with more than 1.29 billion text messages and 1.64 billion voice minutes consumed. In the same period, average blended monthly ARPU decreased by 9.1% to €35.10.
Vodafone Ireland’s customers used on average 263 voice minutes and 201 text messages each month in the quarter ended June 30, 2010.
The company is set to launch a new up to 24Mbps uncongested broadband service to almost 550,000 lines in Ireland today.
The service will be available to more than 70% of the population by the end of 2010.
