Vodafone (LON:VOD) reported falling revenue growth in the first quarter on the back of a weak performance in Italy and Spain, but reiterated its full-year annual earnings guidance.
Revenue dropped by 4.9 percent in the first quarter of the year, led by a 1.3 percent decline in organic sales revenue in Europe and a 22.3 percent decline in India. Revenue in Italy alone dropped by 6.7 percent. However, this was largely offset by a 7 percent growth in Africa, the Middle East and Asia Pacific.
Vodafone stuck to its annual guidance for underlying organic adjusted Ebitda growth of 1-5%, and free cash flow pre-spectrum of at least €5.2 billion.
“The group’s organic service revenue growth slowed during the first quarter, in line with expectations,” chief executive Vittorio Colao said.
“The majority of our operations performed well, with ongoing momentum in Germany, further underlying recovery in the UK and continued good growth in AMAP, all of which helped to offset increased competition in Italy and Spain.”
Colao said Vodafone’s commercial performance was solid, marked by further broadband market share gains in Europe.
“In India, where competition remains intense, we have now received conditional approval from the Department of Telecoms for the merger of Vodafone India and Idea Cellular, which we aim to close before the end of August, allowing us to unlock substantial synergies.”
Shares in Vodafone are currently trading largely flat on the news, down 0.28 percent at 177.16 (0825GMT).
