Vodafone’s (LON:VOD) share price fell by-7.80% as traders focused on a weakening German market which experienced negative revenue growth.
Vodafone was once among the world’s largest mobile telecoms companies and while it’s still a multi billion euro business, the glory days are long behind it.
Today’s Q3 update, which forms part of the financial year 2025 for the group, provided investors and the market with a glimpse of how the business is performing.
The transformation of the business continues apace, most recently Vodafone sold its Italian operations for €8.0 billion, and it has received regulatory approval to merge with rival network Three, in the UK.
Total revenues group wide increased by +5.0% in Q3 to €9.80 billion, services revenues grew slightly faster at +5.60%, reaching €7.9 billion.
Though notably service revenues in Germany shrunk by -2.60%. The company attributed this, and a decline in overall German revenues of -6.40%, to regulatory changes and lower broadband service revenues.
I am inclined to wonder if the ongoing political and economic uncertainty in the country has played a part.
Vodafone’s African operations are the bright spot in this report, organic service revenues here grew by +11.60% almost +2.0 percentage points more than in Q2, with South Africa and Egypt the among the main contributors.
Vodafone continues to buy back its own stock and has spent some €1.50 billion on this up until this morning’s release.
Looking ahead, management was happy to reiterate its guidance for FY 2025. It expects to deliver Group Adjusted EBITDAaL of around €11.0 billion and a group adjusted free cash flow of at least €2.40 billion.
The takeover of Three is expected to complete over the next couple of months.
However the market has chosen to focus on the downturn in Germany and the stock has traded down by -7.80% and has come within 2 pence of its 52 week low of 62.71p as a result.
In recent years Vodafone seems to have moved from one crisis to another, whilst selling off the crown jewels along the way.
Investors will be watching closely to see how well, and how quickly, it can integrate with Three, and achieve the cost synergies and savings that were largely behind the merger.
With over 35 years of finance experience, Darren is a highly respected and knowledgeable industry expert. With an extensive career covering trading, sales, analytics and research, he has a vast knowledge covering every aspect of the financial markets.
During his career, Darren has acted for and advised major hedge funds and investment banks such as GLG, Thames River, Ruby Capital and CQS, Dresdner Kleinwort and HSBC.
In addition to the financial analysis and commentary he provides as an editor at GoodMoneyGuide.com, his work has been featured in publications including Fool.co.uk.
As well as extensive experience of writing financial commentary, he previously worked as a Market Research & Client Relationships Manager at Admiral Markets UK Ltd, before providing expert insights as a market analyst at Pepperstone.
Darren is an expert in areas like currency, CFDs, equities and derivatives and has authored over 260 guides on GoodMoneyGuide.com.
He has an aptitude for explaining trading concepts in a way that newcomers can understand, such as this guide to day trading Forex at Pepperstone.com
Darren has done interviews and analysis for companies like Queso, including an interview on technical trading levels.
A well known authority in the industry, he has provided interviews on Bloomberg (UK), CNBC (UK) Reuters (UK), Tiptv (UK), BNN (Canada) and Asharq Bloomberg Arabia.
You can contact Darren at darrensinden@goodmoneyguide.com
With over 35 years of finance experience, Darren is a highly respected and knowledgeable industry expert. With an extensive career covering trading, sales, analytics and research, he has a vast knowledge covering every aspect of the financial markets.
During his career, Darren has acted for and advised major hedge funds and investment banks such as GLG, Thames River, Ruby Capital and CQS, Dresdner Kleinwort and HSBC.
In addition to the financial analysis and commentary he provides as an editor at GoodMoneyGuide.com, his work has been featured in publications including Fool.co.uk.
As well as extensive experience of writing financial commentary, he previously worked as a Market Research & Client Relationships Manager at Admiral Markets UK Ltd, before providing expert insights as a market analyst at Pepperstone.
Darren is an expert in areas like currency, CFDs, equities and derivatives and has authored over 260 guides on GoodMoneyGuide.com.
He has an aptitude for explaining trading concepts in a way that newcomers can understand, such as this guide to day trading Forex at Pepperstone.com
Darren has done interviews and analysis for companies like Queso, including an interview on technical trading levels.
A well known authority in the industry, he has provided interviews on Bloomberg (UK), CNBC (UK) Reuters (UK), Tiptv (UK), BNN (Canada) and Asharq Bloomberg Arabia.
You can contact Darren at darrensinden@goodmoneyguide.com
