Vodafone results pushed by strong data revenue growth

Vodafone announced that its fourth quarter revenues rose by three per cent to £11.9 billion (US$19.2 billion). Its full year profits are now expected to be "towards the upper end of the £11.8 billion to £12.2 billion range", the company said in a statement.

"This is the fifth successive quarter of service revenue growth improvement, with strong results from India, Turkey, the UK and Vodacom. In addition, Verizon Wireless continues to show strong momentum. Our performance has been driven by the effective execution of our strategy to strengthen our businesses and deliver growth, particularly in data services and emerging markets,” commented Vittorio Colao, Vodafone CEO.

Data revenue continues to drive the company’s growth strategy, with an increase of 27.2 per cent year-on-year in Q410 resulting from strong smartphone and mobile connectivity sales. On an annualised basis the group’s data revenue has grown to over £5 billion, exceeding messaging revenue for the first time ever.

Revenue from Africa, Middle East and Asia Pacific increased by 17.6 per cent reflecting a nine percentage point benefit from foreign exchange rate movements. On an organic basis service revenue increased by 9.3 per cent with strong performances in both India and Vodacom in South Africa. The growth was driven by strong net customer additions in key markets and continued growth from data services.