SOME 400,000 Irish Vodafone shareholders are set to benefit from a possible increase in their annual dividend, after the mobile phone giant announced yesterday it is targeting an annual dividend per share growth of no less than 7 per cent for the next three financial years.
The news comes as Vodafone reported that service revenue at its Irish division was hit by the recession and increased competition.
Vodafone shares are among the most widely held in Ireland as a result of the spin-off of the former Eircell from Eircom in 2001. Many of these shareholders saw the value of their Eircom shares reduced to a fraction of their value after the flotation of Eircom.
As its parent company published results yesterday, Vodafone Ireland said in the three months ended March 31st, 2010, average monthly revenue per user fell 7.7 per cent to €36.10 from €39.10.
However, Irish customers continued to use more voice minutes and text messages than their European counterparts, using 257 voice minutes each month and 200 text messages compared with the European average of 152 voice minutes and 89 text messages.
Vodafone has over 2.1 million mobile customers in Ireland. It recently began offering the iPhone to its customers, and in the two weeks after the launch said over 40,000 iPhones were being used on its network.
It has also moved into the fixed-line business in the past 12 months, with the acquisition of BT’s consumer and small business retail customer base. At the end of March 2010, the company had 194,000 fixed-line voice and broadband customers.
The firm said it has 20 per cent of the DSL broadband market, and is heavily investing in its mobile broadband offering.
For the wider Vodafone Group, adjusted operating profit before tax was up 0.9 per cent to £10.6 billion as revenues climbed and a cost-cutting programme was implemented. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation rose 1.7 per cent to £14.7 billion from £14.5 billion a year earlier, the company said, slightly below analysts’ expectations of £14.8 billion.
Group revenue increased 8.4 per cent to £44.5 billion, while service revenue for the group rose 8.9 per cent to £41.7 billion, the company said.
On an organic basis, sales fell 2.3 per cent.
