Vodafone Q1 underlying earnings up 4.9pc, reiterates FY guidance

(Sharecast News) - Telecommunications giant Vodafone reiterated its FY26 guidance on Thursday as it said both revenue and underlying earnings had grown in Q1. Vodafone said group total revenue increased by 3.9% to €9.4bn in Q1, driven by strong service revenue growth, up 5.3% at €7.9bn.

German services revenues were down 3.2%, while UK service revenues grew 0.9%, African services revenues were 13.8% higher, Türkish services revenues shot up 29.6% and services revenues in Vodafone's Other Europe segment were broadly flat year-on-year, as good business growth across its footprint was offset by a decline in consumer revenues in Portugal and Romania.

Vodafone said adjusted underlying earnings increased by 4.9% on an organic basis to €2.7bn, as service revenue growth in most markets was partially offset by the impact of TV law changes in Germany and continued commercial investments. Adjusted underlying earnings margins of 29.3% were 0.2 percentage points higher year-on-year on an organic basis.

Operating profits decreased by 34.3% to €1.0bn, primarily due to higher "other income" in Q125 arising from the sale of Vodafone's stake in Indus Towers.

Looking ahead, Vodafone noted that following the completion of its UK merger with Three, its guidance now includes the impact of the transaction, with group adjusted underlying earnings of €11.3bn-€11.6bn and group adjusted free cash flow of €2.4bn-€2.6bn.

As of 0840 BST, Vodafone shares were down 0.61% at 82.65p.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com