Vodafone registers revenue growth in first half

Vodafone Australia CEO Iñaki Berroeta. Credit: Vodafone

Vodafone has reported revenue of $1.7 billion for the six months to 30 June — up 7.1 per cent compared to the prior comparable period — and EBITDA of $509.7 million, up 6.8 per cent year on year.

The telco also reported an increased loss of $92 million for its first half — up from $81 million in the six months to June 2017.

The total number of customers on Vodafone’s mobile network grew 5.2 per cent to 5.98 million over the 12 months to 30 June. (Vodafone’s direct mobile customers grew 5.8 per cent, from 5.33 million to 5.64 million.)

“VHA is well-positioned to continue its solid growth trajectory, despite an increasingly competitive market and significant barriers to competition in regional areas,” said the half-year report of Hutchison Telecommunications Australia (a 50 per cent owner of VHA).

“In the second half of 2018, VHA will continue to execute its strategy of offering customers innovative, competitive products to meet growing demand for services, while delivering sustainable business growth.”

HTA said it “remains committed to its investment in VHA, and will continue to support VHA’s growth in the future”.

Vodafone CEO Iñaki Berroeta said the half had been “another period of solid growth” for the telco, with increased customer numbers and revenue despite growing competition in the mobile market.

The CEO said that the telco’s network and technology spend for 2018 will reach more than $1.3 billion

“That includes significant investment on our 5G journey,” Berroeta said. “So we are taking 4G to the limit of the technology with 4.9G and at the same time we [are continuing with] our fibre transmission rollout and also the project that we started last year to virtualize our core network.”

Berroeta was coy about the timing of the launch of Vodafone 5G services, however.