Vodafone grows customer numbers

Vodafone Ireland continued to grow its customer base in the second quarter, adding 31,700 customers, but saw its average revenue per user decline.

The company now has 2.38 million customers across mobile, fixed line and DSL, with a total of 2.18 million mobile subscribers.

Smartphones continued to be a strong seller for the company, accounting for more than half of bill pay device sales in the quarter. Data revenue grew strongly over the period, rising 26 per cent year-on-year.

However, the operator’s average blended monthly ARPU fell by 8.9 per cent to €35.40.

More than 373 million minutes of free calls were made by the network’s pay as you go customers, while 301 million free texts were sent during the quarter. Meanwhile, more than 1 million customers are now using its Passport roaming service.

Other mobile operators have seen their ARPU fall in recent months, with O2 Ireland recording a fall in the first six months of 2010 to €37.14, down from €39.55 for the same period last year.

Elsewhere, Vodafone's parent group raised its full-year profit outlook and said it had agreed to sell its interests in Japanese carrier SoftBank for £3.1 billion (€3.59 billion).

The carrier, which recently sold its stake in China Mobile, said it would continue to dispose of assets it does not control, after some investors complained it was not delivering value.

Vodafone raised its guidance for the fiscal year to end-March, saying it now expected adjusted operating profit of £11.8 to £12.2 billion, versus an earlier forecast of £11.2 to £12 billion, after sales grew faster than expected.

First-half revenue rose 1.8 per cent organically to £22.6 billion as all regions performed well, including Verizon Wireless, its US joint venture with Verizon.

"We have also today announced an updated strategy, which positions Vodafone to realise further value from non-controlled assets, (and) take full advantage of the most valuable telecommunications growth opportunities ahead," chief executive Vittorio Colao said in a statement.

Vodafone will receive the payment from SoftBank in two tranches: 212.5 billion yen in December, which it will use to pay down debt, and 200 billion yen in April 2012.

The payment relates to Vodafone's sale of its Japanese operations to SoftBank in 2006, as part of which Vodafone acquired loan notes and preferred stock and share acquisition rights issued by SoftBank subsidiaries.

Vodafone also said it would push the sales of data plans as demand for email and other mobile Web services accelerates, aiming to become the leading operator in mobile data in Europe, India and Africa.

On an annualised basis the group's mobile data business has grown to nearly £5 billion pounds and fixed line revenue, primarily broadband, has grown to over £3 billion pounds. Vodafone's total revenue last year was £44.5 billion.

First-half core earnings fell 2.8 per cent on an organic basis to £7.4 billion, compared with a forecast of £7.3 billion.

Vodafone took an £800 million impairment for its operations in Greece, which is undergoing austerity reforms after being severely hit by the recession.

Additional reporting: Reuters