Vodafone enjoys revenue boost as tourists return
2 February 2022, 07:44
The mobile phone giant said it benefited from an increase in roaming charges as people started travelling again.
Mobile phone giant Vodafone said revenues in the UK improved in the final three months of 2021 with more visitors leading to an increase in roaming charges.
The company said revenues were up 0.9% in the quarter compared with a 0.6% rise in the previous three months, although there was a fall in business customers.
Bosses said they signed up 152,000 new mobile customers, with good demand for iPhones and a successful Black Friday campaign.
Customer loyalty rates improved, with churn down by 1.9 percentage points year on year to 12.5%, it added.
Vodafone’s broadband customer base also increased by 29,000 in the quarter, meaning the company now offers the service to nearly one million customers.
The falls in business contracts was due to pressure on persuading multinational customers to renew and a decision to end a multinational contract in the previous quarter.
Vodafone’s UK business fared better than its Italian and Spanish offerings, which saw revenues dip 1.3% and 1.6% respectively.
In both countries, the business said price pressures and tough competition were to blame.
Vodafone’s biggest market – Germany – saw an increase in revenues of 1.1% driven by business customer usage.
But the company was hit by stricter Covid-19 restrictions, with footfall to stores 50% below pre-pandemic levels.
Globally, Vodafone said revenues for the three months to the end of December rose 4.3% to 11.7 billion euros (£7.8 billion) and flagged good growth in Africa, where it has 187 million customers in eight countries.
