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Vodafone revenue declines 2.5 per cent in 2024

Vodafone Group’s revenue declined by 2.5 per cent for the full year 2024.

The company's revenue fell from €37.7 billion for FY23 to €36.7 billion for FY24.

However its UK total revenue was up 0.2 per cent at €6.8 billion over the same period.

UK service revenue also rose 5.1 per cent from €5.4 billion to €5.6 billion, driven by continued strong growth in both its consumer and business segments.

The UK division's mobile service revenue grew by 5.4 per cent, driven by good commercial momentum, annual price increases and higher roaming revenue.

Vodafone Business service revenue also increased by 3.3 per cent due to strong growth in mobile supported by annual price increases, as well as its IoT business.

The Group’s service revenue dropped by 1.3 per cent from €30.3 billion last year to €29.9 billion in 2024.

Operating profit was also down 74.6 per cent from €14.5 billion to €3.7 billion over the same period. This was due to one-off sales of Vantage Towers, Vodafone Hungary and Vodafone Ghana.

Additionally, Vodafone’s adjusted EBITDAaL fell from €12.4 billion to €11 billion. Its profit for the financial year declined from €12.6 billion to €1.6 billion.

Vodafone’s chief executive Margherita Della Valle said, "A year ago, I set out my plans to transform Vodafone, including the need to right-size Europe for growth. Since then, we have announced a series of transactions and we are now delivering growth in all of our markets across Europe and Africa.

"Much more still needs to be done in the year ahead. We will step-up investment in our customer experience, improve our underlying performance in Germany and accelerate our momentum in Business, whilst also continuing to simplify our operations throughout the group.

"We are fundamentally transforming Vodafone for growth."

Della Valle said that Vodafone’s proposed £15 billion merger with Three UK remains in "deep conversations" with the Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA), but is "progressing well".

She said: "The substance of the merger remains the one we have discussed in the past that should be really attractive to all stakeholders, not just our customers but also the broader UK base with more investment in our network that will trigger more investment for everyone."

It comes after the government said it would conditionally approve the merger on national security grounds, leaving the final decision with the CMA.

Della Valle also confirmed that 5,000 job cuts had been made as part of Vodafone's restructuring plans.

Matt Britzman, an analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said investors should not "confuse progress with a completed transformation".

"Vodafone is still facing plenty of challenges, from higher costs to a core German market that's still under pressure," he said. "The transformation is starting to take shape, but before getting too excited, markets will need to see sustained top-line growth over the coming year and a tighter grip on costs."

Vodafone also confirmed that it will halve its final dividend in the coming year to 4.5 cents per share, due to the smaller operation size.

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