Vodafone Group plc (LON: VOD) said its organic service revenue returned to the growth zone in the fiscal third quarter. The company also confirmed its full-year financial guidance on Wednesday. Chief Executive Nick Read commented on the financial update and said:
“Our good trading performance underscores our confidence in the outlook for the full year.”
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Vodafone shares jumped more than 3% in premarket trading on Wednesday. The stock is now trading at 132 pence per share after recovering from a low of 98 pence per share in March 2020 when the COVID-19 crisis disrupted its business.
The ongoing pandemic has so far infected more than 3.8 million people in the United Kingdom and caused over 108 thousand deaths.
Vodafone Group’s revenue comes in at £9.86 billion in Q3
For the quarter that concluded on 31st December, Vodafone reported a 0.4% annualised increase in its service revenue on an organic basis. The telecommunications firm said that its service revenue tanked 1.1% in Europe but remained hawkish in all other markets. In its largest market, Germany, organic service revenue jumped 1% in Q3.
In separate news from the United Kingdom, videogame publisher, Frontier Developments plc, also reported its financial results for the fiscal first half on Wednesday.
Vodafone said that it generated £9.86 billion of revenue in the recent quarter that represents a 4.7% decline on a year over year basis. The Berkshire-based company’s organic service revenue had come in 1.3% down in the first quarter, and 0.4% down in Q2.
Vodafone Group’s guidance for the full financial year
For the full financial year, the British multinational forecasts its EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) to fall in the range of £12.68 billion to £12.86 billion. Excluding spectrum and restructuring costs, it expects at least £4.40 billion of free cash flow this year.
Vodafone also highlighted on Wednesday that Vantage Towers, its European subsidiary, is on track for an initial public offering (IPO) in March 2021. In a report published in November, the British multinational telecommunications firm had recorded £1.84 billion of pre-tax profit for the fiscal first half.
Vodafone performed fairly downbeat in the stock market last year with an annual decline of close to 15%. At the time of writing, the LSE-listed firm is valued at £35.24 billion and has a price to earnings ratio of 17.42.
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