UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

Form 6-K

 

Report of Foreign Private Issuer

Pursuant to Rules 13a-16 or 15d-16 under

the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

 

Dated July 24, 2015

 

Commission File Number: 001-10086

 

VODAFONE GROUP

PUBLIC LIMITED COMPANY

(Translation of registrant’s name into English)

 

VODAFONE HOUSE, THE CONNECTION, NEWBURY, BERKSHIRE RG14 2FN, ENGLAND

(Address of principal executive offices)

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under cover Form 20-F or Form 40-F.

 

 

Form 20-F x

Form 40-F o

 

 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1): o

 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7): o

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant by furnishing the information contained in this Form is also thereby furnishing the information to the Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

 

 

Yes o

No x

 

 

If “Yes” is marked, indicate below the file number assigned to the registrant in connection with Rule 12g3-2(b): 82-     

 

THIS REPORT ON FORM 6-K SHALL BE DEEMED TO BE INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE IN EACH OF THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT ON FORM F-3 (FILE NO. 333-190307), THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT ON FORM S-8 (FILE NO. 333-81825) AND THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT ON FORM S-8 (FILE NO. 333-149634) OF VODAFONE GROUP PUBLIC LIMITED COMPANY AND TO BE A PART THEREOF FROM THE DATE ON WHICH THIS REPORT IS FURNISHED, TO THE EXTENT NOT SUPERSEDED BY DOCUMENTS OR REPORTS SUBSEQUENTLY FILED OR FURNISHED.

 

 

 


 

This report on Form 6-K contains Vodafone Group Plc’s (‘Vodafone’) Trading update for the quarter ended 30 June 2015.

 

news release

 

Trading update for the quarter ended 30 June 2015

24 July 2015

 

Highlights

 

·                  Q1 Group organic service revenue grew 0.8%*; Europe -1.5%*, AMAP 6.1%*

·                  Continued recovery in Europe: Germany -1.2%*, UK 0.2%*, Italy -2.0%*, Spain -5.5%*

·                  Momentum in AMAP, South Africa back to growth: India 6.9%*, Vodacom 4.5%*, Turkey 15.0%*

·                  Strong progress on Project Spring, mobile build 71% complete, European 4G coverage 75%

·                  24.1 million 4G customers across 18 markets

·                  Progress in unified communications: 12.3 million fixed broadband customers, launched broadband in UK

·                  Second consecutive quarter of enterprise growth, service revenue +1.8%*

 

 

 

Quarter ended

 

Change

 

 

 

30 June 2015

 

Reported

 

Organic*

 

 

 

£m

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Group revenue

 

10,113

 

(0.9

)

3.3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Group service revenue

 

9,169

 

(2.9

)

0.8

 

Europe

 

5,973

 

(6.2

)

(1.5

)

Africa, Middle East and Asia Pacific (‘AMAP’)

 

2,986

 

4.0

 

6.1

 

 

Vittorio Colao, Group Chief Executive, commented:

 

“We have made a good start to the year. Our emerging markets have maintained their strong momentum and more of our European businesses are returning to growth, as customer demand for 4G and data takes off. We continue to hit our Project Spring build milestones and customers are beginning to value the improvement in service that is resulting: contract churn in Europe is now falling and mobile ARPU trends are stabilising in a number of key markets. Our other key growth areas — unified communications and enterprise — are performing strongly, benefiting from the increased capabilities and footprint that our higher levels of investment are delivering. However, our markets are, as always, highly competitive and we therefore have to remain very focused on efficiency, cost control, and excellent value and service to customers, while continuing to deliver a good return for shareholders.”

 


Notes:

*       All amounts in this document marked with an “*” represent organic growth which presents performance on a comparable basis, both in terms of merger and acquisition activity and movements in foreign exchange rates. For details see “Organic growth” on page 11.

1        The Group has amended its reporting to reflect changes in the internal management of its Enterprise business. The primary change has been that on 1 April 2015, the Group redefined its segments to report international voice transit service revenue within common functions rather than within the service revenue amount disclosed for each country and region. The service revenue amounts presented for the quarter ended 30 June 2014 have been restated onto a comparable basis together with all disclosed organic service revenue growth rates. There is no impact on total Group service revenues.

 

Vodafone Group Plc

 

Vodafone House, The Connection, Newbury, Berkshire RG14 2FN, England

vodafone.com

 

Investor Relations

Media Relations

Telephone: +44 7919 990230

  www.vodafone.com/media/contact

 

Registered Office: Vodafone House, The Connection, Newbury, Berkshire RG14 2FN, England. Registered in England No. 1833679

 


 

OPERATING REVIEW

 

Group performance

 

Group total revenue was £10.1 billion and Group service revenue was £9.2 billion. Total revenue declined 0.9%, including a 3.1 percentage point favourable impact from M&A and a 7.3 percentage point adverse impact from foreign exchange movements. On an organic basis Group service revenue increased 0.8%* (Q4: 0.1%*) and, excluding the impact of mobile termination rate (‘MTR’) cuts, Group service revenue grew 1.4%* (Q4: 0.9%*).

 

Europe

 

In Europe, organic service revenue has continued to recover, declining 1.5%* (Q4: -2.6%*), supported by more stable pricing environments in many markets and an improved commercial performance, as well as a positive impact from the inclusion of KDG and Ono in organic growth rates. Excluding the impact of MTR cuts, organic service revenue declined by 1.3%* (Q4: -2.2%*).

 

Trends in mobile continue to improve with Q1 mobile service revenue declining 2.5%* (Q4: -3.4%*) supported by continued growth in our contract base, further ARPU stabilisation across many markets and a continued reduction in contract churn across all major markets. Data usage continues to increase significantly, led by the take up of 4G, with 18.9 million 4G customers across Europe. Fixed service revenue trends continue to be strong with growth of 1.7%* (Q4: 1.2%*) driven by continued customer growth.

 

Total revenue declined 3.9%, including a 4.3 percentage point favourable impact from M&A, primarily from Ono, and a 9.3 percentage point adverse impact from foreign exchange movements.

 

Revenue

 

 

 

Quarter ended

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

30 June

 

Change 

 

 

 

 

 

Restated1

 

 

 

 

 

2015 

 

2014 

 

Reported 

 

Organic*

 

 

 

£m 

 

£m 

 

%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Germany

 

1,762

 

2,012

 

(12.4

)

(1.2

)

Italy

 

914

 

1,052

 

(13.1

)

(2.0

)

UK

 

1,429

 

1,433

 

(0.3

)

0.2

 

Spain

 

803

 

695

 

15.5

 

(5.5

)

Other Europe

 

1,091

 

1,189

 

(8.2

)

0.6

 

Eliminations

 

(26

)

(14

)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Service revenue

 

5,973

 

6,367

 

(6.2

)

(1.5

)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Revenue

 

6,501

 

6,768

 

(3.9

)

1.1

 

 

Germany

 

Service revenue, including KDG, declined 1.2%* (Q4 excluding KDG: -3.5%*), with continued customer growth more than offset by a decline in contract ARPU. The quarter’s organic growth rate benefits from the inclusion of KDG.

 

Mobile service revenue declined 2.1%* (Q4: -3.2%*), with price reductions in prior periods continuing to penetrate the customer base. We continued to grow our contract base, with 104,000 customers added in the quarter (Q4: 137,000) and contract churn has fallen to its lowest level in three years at 13.8%. The channel mix for new customer additions is also improving, with an increasing proportion of new customer additions coming from direct channels. We increased our 4G coverage to 78% and now have 5.5 million 4G customers. During the quarter we acquired 110MHz of spectrum across four bands for €2.1 billion, which will improve our competitive position by enabling us to offer even faster 4G speeds.

 

Fixed service revenue (including KDG) grew 0.2%* (Q4 excluding KDG: -4.8%*) with continued growth in KDG offset by a decline in our DSL business, where promotional discounts for new customers continue to impact ARPU in the promotional period. In total, we added 70,000 broadband customers in the quarter.

 

KDG continued to perform strongly with service revenue growth of 6.6%*, supported by continued customer growth with 102,000 broadband net additions (Q4: 123,000). The integration of KDG remains on track, with further progress on network integration and customer migrations.

 

3


 

Italy

 

Service revenue declined 2.0%* (Q4: -4.1%), with the improving trend reflecting a more stable prepaid market as well as continued growth in enterprise and fixed line.

 

Mobile service revenue declined 3.2%* (Q4: -6.3%*) with an improving trend supported by growth in enterprise and a significant improvement in prepaid, led by ARPU growth and churn reduction. Our 4G network now provides 88% outdoor coverage and we have 2.7 million 4G customers, with data usage continuing to grow and the number of customers with data add-ons more than doubling year over year.

 

Fixed service revenue grew 4.4%* (Q4: 8.9%*), supported by broadband net additions of 43,000. Our fibre-to-the-cabinet programme has now installed over 8,600 street cabinets across 74 cities with over 3,500 added in the quarter.

 

UK

 

UK service revenue increased 0.2%* (Q4: -0.6%*), supported by a continued strong performance in mobile consumer contract.

 

Mobile service revenue increased 0.7%* (Q4: 1.1%*) with growth in both consumer contract and enterprise. In consumer, we added 83,000 new contract customers (Q4: 49,000) and reduced contract churn to 15.8%, both supported by the continued popularity of our 4G plans with content. We now have 4.7 million 4G customers with 4G outdoor population coverage now at 68% (or 76% based on the Ofcom definition), including complete coverage across London.

 

Fixed service revenue, which is currently all enterprise related, continued to record an improving trend with service revenue declining 1.3%* (Q4: -5.7%*) though price pressures remain. During the quarter we launched our consumer broadband offer, initially in selected regions, and will launch nationwide services during the summer, with a full TV launch to follow before the financial year end.

 

Spain

 

Service revenue, including Ono, declined 5.5%* (Q4 excluding Ono: -7.8%*), reflecting continued price competition across converged bundles. Excluding the impact of handset financing, service revenue declined 3.3%*. The quarter’s organic growth rate benefits from the inclusion of Ono.

 

Mobile service revenue, including Ono, declined 9.5%* (Q4 excluding Ono: -9.3%*) with lower mobile ARPU reflecting price reductions in previous quarters and the impact of handset financing, partially offset by new prices introduced in the previous quarter. We continue to grow our contract base, adding 54,000 contract customers in the quarter. We now have 3.3 million customers enjoying our 4G services with outdoor population coverage now 78%.

 

Fixed service revenue, including Ono, grew 4.2%* (Q4 excluding Ono: 5.8%*), supported by net broadband customer additions of 41,000. We added 80,000 new cable and fibre customers in the quarter. We now cover 7.9 million households with cable or fibre, including 1.1 million homes through our joint fibre build with Orange. The performance of Ono remains in line with our expectations and cost and capex synergies from the integration continue to be achieved. During the quarter, we launched Vodafone One, a fully integrated offer with Ono, and now have 291,000 customers on these plans.

 

Other Europe

 

Service revenue grew 0.6%* (Q4: -0.9%*), with the majority of markets now in growth. The Netherlands grew service revenue by 1.0%* (Q4: 3.2%*) with mobile customer growth and growth in fixed line offsetting some pressure in mobile ARPU. In Ireland, service revenue declined 0.1%* (Q4: -6.4%*) with growth in the consumer contract and enterprise mobile businesses, plus strong growth in fixed line, offset by a decline in prepaid mobile. In Portugal, service revenue declined 2.6%* (Q4: -3.8%*) reflecting continued converged price competition. Greece returned to growth with service revenue increasing 0.4%* (Q4: -2.0%) mainly as a result of strong customer growth. Romania also returned to service revenue growth, after lapping an MTR cut, and we saw continued growth in the Czech Republic and a small decline in Hungary, after a significant MTR cut.

 

4


 

AMAP

 

Our AMAP region continues to grow strongly, with service revenue increasing 6.1%* (Q4: 5.8%*) with growth in all major markets. Excluding the impact of MTR cuts, organic service revenue increased 7.7%* (Q4: 7.3%*). The region continues to see strong customer growth, with 4.3 million added in the quarter, and an increasing number of our customers are now using data, with 6.6 million active data users added in the quarter. Customer usage continues to grow throughout the region, with voice and data usage up 7% and 97% respectively.

 

Total revenue increased 5.5%, including a 2.5 percentage point adverse impact from foreign exchange movements.

 

Revenue

 

 

 

Quarter ended

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

30 June

 

Change 

 

 

 

 

 

Restated1

 

 

 

 

 

2015 

 

2014 

 

Reported 

 

Organic*

 

 

 

£m 

 

£m 

 

%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

India

 

1,133

 

1,024

 

10.6

 

6.9

 

Vodacom

 

846

 

839

 

0.8

 

4.5

 

Other AMAP

 

1,011

 

1,007

 

0.4

 

6.8

 

Eliminations

 

(4

)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Service revenue

 

2,986

 

2,870

 

4.0

 

6.1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Revenue

 

3,361

 

3,185

 

5.5

 

8.1

 

 

India

 

Service revenue increased 6.9%* (Q4: 11.7%*), with the growth rate slowing due to the impact of regulation, including an MTR cut. Excluding MTRs, service revenue grew by 10.6%* (Q4: 13.2%*), with continued customer base growth and an acceleration in the take-up of 3G offsetting continued pressure on voice pricing.

 

Data revenue grew 65% supported by the addition of 3.1 million new data customers, taking the total to 66.8 million. Smartphone penetration is now 26% across the country and 47% in the four metro circles and we now have 22 million 3G customers compared to 10 million a year ago. While total voice traffic continues to grow, the outgoing rate per minute has continued to decline, reflecting increased competition. The average minutes of use per customer is lower than a year ago but has increased slightly compared to the previous quarter. Total mobile customers increased 1.6 million giving a closing customer base of 185.4 million.

 

Progress on Project Spring remains strong with 1,000 2G sites and 1,100 3G sites added in the quarter (14,000 2G and 21,000 3G since the build commenced), taking our 3G outdoor population coverage in targeted urban areas to 91%. We are now trialling 4G services across selected areas and we continue to expand our M-Pesa service and now have 501,000 active customers supported by 94,000 agents.

 

Vodacom

 

Service revenue grew 4.5%* (Q4: -0.2%*), with a return to growth following the lapping of MTR cuts in the previous year combined with an improved underlying performance in South Africa and across the international operations.

 

South Africa returned to growth with service revenue growing 2.8%* (Q4: -2.0%) with the improvement the result of lapping an MTR cut combined with strong data growth, supported by increased take up of data bundles. Data revenue increased 35% with a 46% increase in data traffic. Continued network leadership and an emphasis on customer retention has helped contract churn fall to 7.2%. Project Spring continues to progress well with 4G outdoor population coverage at 41% and 82% of all mobile sites now connected with high capacity backhaul.

 

Vodacom obtained approval for the Neotel transaction from the Independent Communications Authority (ICASA), and the Competition Commission of South Africa has recommended the approval of the transaction to the Competition Tribunal, both of which are subject to certain conditions. We await the outcome of the Competition Tribunal and the ICASA public commentary processes.

 

Vodacom’s international operations outside South Africa grew service revenue by 10.7%* (Q4: 5.3%*) with quarterly revenue trends improving across all countries, supported by strong customer and data revenue growth. M-Pesa continues to perform well, with over 5.6 million customers actively using the service across Vodacom’s international operations.

 

5


 

Other AMAP

 

Service revenue increased 6.8%* (Q4: 5.5%*), with strong growth in Turkey, Egypt and Ghana partially offset by declines in New Zealand and Qatar.

 

Service revenue in Turkey grew 15.0%* (Q4: 13.0%*) reflecting continued strong growth in both consumer contract and enterprise as well as an increased contribution from fixed line. Total mobile customers reached 21.0 million with 310,000 contract customers added in the quarter. In Egypt, service revenue grew 6.1%* (Q4: 3.4%*) with strong data revenue growth and stable voice revenue. Service revenue in Ghana grew 19.0%* (Q4: 17.2%*) driven by strong growth in customers, voice bundles and data. Total revenue in Qatar declined in the quarter, reflecting significant ongoing price competition. In New Zealand, service revenue was down 0.7%* (Q4: -2.7%*) with growth in fixed line being offset by continued price pressure in mobile.

 

Strategic progress

 

Project Spring

 

We continue to make great progress with Project Spring and are now 71% of the way through the mobile programme, having modernised 80,000 mobile sites, added a further 36,000 2G, 47,000 3G and 41,000 4G sites, and upgraded 71,000 sites to high capacity backhaul since the build began.

 

In fixed line we have extended our own next generation cable and fibre networks (‘NGN’) to a further 820,000 households in the quarter, bringing the total number of households passed in Europe to 26 million, or 62 million including wholesale arrangements.

 

As a result of our continued investment our customers are enjoying greater network coverage and quality. Our 4G outdoor population coverage in Europe is 75%, up from 52% a year ago, and we remain on track to reach over 90% by the end of this financial year. The dropped call rate in Europe has fallen to 0.58%, down from 0.90% when we announced Project Spring. In India, we added a further 1,000 2G and 1,100 3G sites in the quarter and remain on course for 95% 3G coverage in targeted urban areas by the end of the year.

 

Data and 4G

 

The demand for data continues to grow. Across the Group, the total amount of data traffic carried over our network has grown by 78% year-on-year (Q4: 81%), with AMAP growing 97% and Europe 64%.

 

We now have 24.1 million 4G customers across 18 markets and 4G now accounts for 35% of all data traffic in our European markets. We continue to bundle content packages with 4G to stimulate data usage and now have content packages available in 12 markets. In AMAP, the number of active data users across markets increased by 6.6 million in the quarter to 122.2 million.

 

Unified communications

 

We continue to strengthen our position as a leading unified communications provider. We now have 12.3 million fixed broadband customers across the Group, adding 264,000 customers during the quarter. In Europe, we have 11.5 million fixed broadband customers, adding 216,000 customers during the quarter. We now have 5.3 million NGN broadband customers across the Group, adding 0.2 million in the quarter. In addition to broadband, we now have 9.2 million TV customers across six markets in the Group and we expect to launch TV services in the UK later in the financial year.

 

Our organic fibre build programmes are progressing well. In Spain, we cover a total of 7.9 million households and in Portugal we cover 2.0 million. In Italy, our fibre-to-the-cabinet build had accelerated with over 3,500 cabinets installed in the quarter with the total now over 8,600.

 

Enterprise

 

Our Enterprise business has grown for the second consecutive quarter, with service revenue increasing 1.8%* in the quarter (Q4: 1.4%*) supported by improving trends in mobile and continued growth in fixed.

 

We continue to see strong growth across our cross-border enterprise businesses of Vodafone Global Enterprise, M2M and Cloud and Hosting, helped by significant new contract wins in the quarter. In M2M, we have increased the number of connections to 22.9 million compared to 17.5 million a year ago.

 

6


 

Summary and outlook

 

Trading in the first quarter was consistent with management’s expectations underlying the outlook statement for the 2016 financial year2. The Group therefore confirms its outlook for the 2016 financial year.

 


Notes:

*       All amounts in this document marked with an “*” represent organic growth which presents performance on a comparable basis, both in terms of merger and acquisition activity and movements in foreign exchange rates. For details see “Organic growth” on page 11.

1        The Group has amended its reporting to reflect changes in the internal management of its Enterprise business. The primary change has been that on 1 April 2015, the Group redefined its segments to report international voice transit service revenue within common functions rather than within the service revenue amount disclosed for each country and region. The service revenue amounts presented for the quarter ended 30 June 2014 have been restated onto a comparable basis together with all disclosed organic service revenue growth rates. There is no impact on total Group service revenues.

2        Full details on this guidance are available on page 8 of the Group’s preliminary announcement for the financial year ended 31 March 2015.

 

7


 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

 

Service revenue — quarter ended 30 June1

 

Group and Regions

 

 

 

Group

 

Europe

 

AMAP

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Restated

 

 

 

Restated

 

 

 

2015 

 

2014 

 

2015 

 

2014 

 

2015 

 

2014 

 

 

 

£m 

 

£m 

 

£m 

 

£m 

 

£m 

 

£m 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mobile in-bundle

 

3,853

 

3,929

 

2,863

 

3,050

 

954

 

828

 

Mobile out-of-bundle

 

2,453

 

2,731

 

1,022

 

1,290

 

1,428

 

1,437

 

Mobile incoming

 

605

 

680

 

317

 

358

 

288

 

322

 

Fixed line

 

1,877

 

1,719

 

1,523

 

1,403

 

211

 

164

 

Other

 

381

 

387

 

248

 

266

 

105

 

119

 

Service revenue

 

9,169

 

9,446

 

5,973

 

6,367

 

2,986

 

2,870

 

 

 

 

Change

 

 

 

Group

 

Europe

 

AMAP

 

 

 

Reported

 

Organic*

 

Reported

 

Organic*

 

Reported

 

Organic*

 

 

 

%

 

%

 

%

 

%

 

%

 

%

 

Mobile in-bundle

 

(1.9

)

5.4

 

(6.1

)

1.7

 

15.2

 

20.1

 

Mobile out-of-bundle

 

(10.2

)

(6.2

)

(20.8

)

(13.1

)

(0.6

)

 

Mobile incoming

 

(11.0

)

(6.7

)

(11.5

)

(4.3

)

(10.6

)

(9.3

)

Fixed line

 

9.2

 

3.6

 

8.6

 

1.7

 

28.7

 

14.4

 

Other

 

(1.6

)

6.1

 

(6.8

)

2.9

 

(11.8

)

18.2

 

Service revenue

 

(2.9

)

0.8

 

(6.2

)

(1.5

)

4.0

 

6.1

 

 

Operating Companies

 

 

 

Germany

 

Italy

 

UK

 

 

 

 

 

Restated

 

 

 

Restated

 

 

 

Restated

 

 

 

2015 

 

2014 

 

2015 

 

2014 

 

2015 

 

2014 

 

 

 

£m 

 

£m 

 

£m 

 

£m 

 

£m 

 

£m 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mobile in-bundle

 

764

 

878

 

462

 

497

 

669

 

629

 

Mobile out-of-bundle

 

198

 

239

 

193

 

271

 

283

 

313

 

Mobile incoming

 

54

 

66

 

66

 

76

 

82

 

89

 

Fixed line

 

668

 

752

 

151

 

164

 

325

 

329

 

Other

 

78

 

77

 

42

 

44

 

70

 

73

 

Service revenue

 

1,762

 

2,012

 

914

 

1,052

 

1,429

 

1,433

 

 

 

 

Change

 

 

 

Germany

 

Italy

 

UK

 

 

 

Reported

 

Organic*

 

Reported

 

Organic*

 

Reported

 

Organic*

 

 

 

%

 

%

 

%

 

%

 

%

 

%

 

Service revenue

 

(12.4

)

(1.2

)

(13.1

)

(2.0

)

(0.3

)

0.2

 

 

 

 

Spain

 

India

 

Vodacom

 

 

 

 

 

Restated

 

 

 

Restated

 

 

 

Restated

 

 

 

2015 

 

2014 

 

2015 

 

2014 

 

2015 

 

2014 

 

 

 

£m 

 

£m 

 

£m 

 

£m 

 

£m 

 

£m 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mobile in-bundle

 

395

 

428

 

253

 

181

 

286

 

259

 

Mobile out-of-bundle

 

94

 

132

 

671

 

635

 

443

 

462

 

Mobile incoming

 

27

 

28

 

122

 

148

 

44

 

50

 

Fixed line

 

257

 

71

 

48

 

38

 

34

 

 

Other

 

30

 

36

 

39

 

22

 

39

 

68

 

Service revenue

 

803

 

695

 

1,133

 

1,024

 

846

 

839

 

 

 

 

Change

 

 

 

Spain

 

India

 

Vodacom

 

 

 

Reported

 

Organic*

 

Reported

 

Organic*

 

Reported

 

Organic*

 

 

 

%

 

%

 

%

 

%

 

%

 

%

 

Service revenue

 

15.5

 

(5.5

)

10.6

 

6.9

 

0.8

 

4.5

 

 


Notes:

*             All amounts in this document marked with an “*” represent organic growth which presents performance on a comparable basis, both in terms of merger and acquisition activity and movements in foreign exchange rates. For details see “Organic growth” on page 11.

1               The Group has amended its reporting to reflect changes in the internal management of its Enterprise business. The primary change has been that on 1 April 2015, the Group redefined its segments to report international voice transit service revenue within common functions rather than within the service revenue amount disclosed for each country and region. The service revenue amounts presented for the quarter ended 30 June 2014 have been restated onto a comparable basis together with all disclosed organic service revenue growth rates. There is no impact on total Group service revenues.

 

8


 

Mobile customers — quarter ended 30 June 2015

 

(in thousands)

 

Country

 

1 April 2015

 

Contract
net additions/
(disconnections)

 

Prepay
net additions/
(disconnections)

 

Other
movements

 

30 June 2015

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Europe

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Germany

 

30,943

 

104

 

(732

)

 

30,315

 

Italy

 

25,170

 

(76

)

(217

)

 

24,877

 

UK

 

18,415

 

83

 

(181

)

 

18,317

 

Spain1

 

14,179

 

54

 

(82

)

(50

)

14,101

 

 

 

88,707

 

165

 

(1,212

)

(50

)

87,610

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other Europe

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Netherlands

 

5,160

 

9

 

4

 

 

5,173

 

Ireland

 

2,011

 

18

 

(16

)

 

2,013

 

Portugal

 

5,043

 

123

 

(238

)

 

4,928

 

Romania

 

8,056

 

20

 

114

 

 

8,190

 

Greece

 

5,118

 

35

 

92

 

 

5,245

 

Czech Republic

 

3,267

 

58

 

3

 

 

3,328

 

Hungary

 

2,741

 

38

 

(21

)

 

2,758

 

Albania

 

1,700

 

(1

)

(74

)

 

1,625

 

Malta

 

311

 

2

 

 

 

313

 

 

 

33,407

 

302

 

(136

)

 

33,573

 

Europe

 

122,114

 

467

 

(1,348

)

(50

)

121,183

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AMAP

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

India

 

183,803

 

449

 

1,132

 

 

185,384

 

Vodacom2

 

68,508

 

29

 

2,829

 

 

71,366

 

 

 

252,311

 

478

 

3,961

 

 

256,750

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other AMAP

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Turkey

 

20,747

 

310

 

(9

)

 

21,048

 

Egypt

 

39,717

 

17

 

(570

)

 

39,164

 

New Zealand

 

2,362

 

14

 

(30

)

 

2,346

 

Qatar

 

1,444

 

10

 

(34

)

 

1,420

 

Ghana

 

7,141

 

 

141

 

 

7,282

 

 

 

71,411

 

351

 

(502

)

 

71,260

 

AMAP

 

323,722

 

829

 

3,459

 

 

328,010

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Group

 

445,836

 

1,296

 

2,111

 

(50

)

449,193

 

 


Notes:

1               Other movements relate to a change in prepay disconnection policy.

2               Vodacom refers to the Group’s interests in Vodacom Group Limited and its subsidiaries, including those located outside of South Africa.

 

9


 

Fixed broadband customers — quarter ended 30 June 2015

 

(in thousands)

 

Country

 

1 April 2015

 

Net additions/
(disconnections)

 

30 June 2015

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Europe

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Germany

 

5,450

 

70

 

5,520

 

Italy

 

1,802

 

43

 

1,845

 

UK

 

66

 

4

 

70

 

Spain

 

2,810

 

41

 

2,851

 

 

 

10,128

 

158

 

10,286

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other Europe

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Netherlands

 

49

 

12

 

61

 

Ireland

 

222

 

1

 

223

 

Portugal

 

330

 

27

 

357

 

Romania

 

43

 

3

 

46

 

Greece

 

493

 

15

 

508

 

Czech Republic

 

13

 

 

13

 

Hungary

 

 

 

 

Albania

 

 

 

 

Malta

 

1

 

 

1

 

 

 

1,151

 

58

 

1,209

 

Europe

 

11,279

 

216

 

11,495

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AMAP

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

India

 

5

 

 

5

 

Vodacom1

 

 

 

 

 

 

5

 

 

5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other AMAP

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Turkey

 

97

 

46

 

143

 

Egypt

 

224

 

1

 

225

 

New Zealand

 

409

 

1

 

410

 

Qatar

 

7

 

(1

)

6

 

Ghana

 

28

 

1

 

29

 

 

 

765

 

48

 

813

 

AMAP

 

770

 

48

 

818

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Group

 

12,049

 

264

 

12,313

 

 


Note:

1               Vodacom refers to the Group’s interests in Vodacom Group Limited and its subsidiaries, including those located outside of South Africa.

 

10


 

NON-GAAP INFORMATION

 

Use of non-GAAP information

 

In the discussion of the Group’s reported operating results, information is presented to provide readers with additional financial information that is regularly reviewed by management. However, this additional information presented is not uniformly defined by all companies including those in the Group’s industry. Accordingly, it may not be comparable with similarly titled measures and disclosures by other companies. Additionally, certain information presented is derived from amounts calculated in accordance with IFRS but is not itself an expressly permitted GAAP measure. Such non-GAAP measures should not be viewed in isolation or as an alternative to the equivalent GAAP measure.

 

Organic growth

 

All amounts in this document marked with an “*” represent organic growth which presents performance on a comparable basis, both in terms of merger and acquisition activity and foreign exchange rates. We believe that “organic growth”, which is not intended to be a substitute for or superior to reported growth, provides useful and necessary information to investors and other interested parties for the following reasons:

 

·                  it provides additional information on underlying growth of the business without the effect of certain factors unrelated to the operating performance of the business;

 

·                  it is used for internal performance analysis; and

 

·                  it facilitates comparability of underlying growth with other companies, although the term “organic” is not a defined term under IFRS and may not, therefore, be comparable with similarly titled measures reported by other companies.

 

For the quarter ended 31 March 2015 and consequently the year ended 31 March 2015, the Group’s organic service revenue growth rate was adjusted to exclude the beneficial impact of a settlement of an historical interconnect rate dispute in the UK and the beneficial impact of an upward revision to interconnect revenue in Egypt from a re-estimation by management of the appropriate historical mobile interconnection rate. The adjustments in relation to Vodafone UK and Vodafone Egypt also impacted the disclosed organic growth rates for those countries. In addition, the Group’s organic service revenue growth rates for the year ended 31 March 2015 and the quarters ended 31 March 2015 and 30 June 2015 have been amended to exclude the adverse impact of an adjustment to intercompany revenue.

 

For the 2016 financial year, the Group has amended its reporting to reflect changes in the internal management of its Enterprise business. The primary change has been that on 1 April 2015, the Group redefined its segments to report international voice transit service revenue within common functions rather than within the service revenue amount disclosed for each country and region. The service revenue amounts presented for the quarter ended 30 June 2014 have been restated onto a comparable basis together with all disclosed organic service revenue growth rates. There is no impact on total Group service revenues.

 

Reconciliations of organic growth to reported growth are shown where used or in the table below.

 

 

 

 

 

Change

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other activity

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(including

 

Foreign

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Organic

 

M&A)

 

exchange

 

Reported

 

 

 

Period

 

%

 

pps

 

pps

 

%

 

GROUP

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Revenue

 

Q1

 

3.3

 

3.1

 

(7.3

)

(0.9

)

Mobile in-bundle revenue

 

Q1

 

5.4

 

1.2

 

(8.5

)

(1.9

)

Mobile out-of-bundle revenue

 

Q1

 

(6.2

)

0.1

 

(4.1

)

(10.2

)

Mobile incoming revenue

 

Q1

 

(6.7

)

0.4

 

(4.7

)

(11.0

)

Fixed line revenue

 

Q1

 

3.6

 

15.3

 

(9.7

)

9.2

 

Other revenue

 

Q1

 

6.1

 

(1.1

)

(6.6

)

(1.6

)

Service revenue

 

Q1

 

0.8

 

3.2

 

(6.9

)

(2.9

)

Service revenue excluding the impact of MTR cuts

 

Q1

 

1.4

 

3.2

 

(6.9

)

(2.3

)

Enterprise service revenue

 

Q1

 

1.8

 

3.3

 

(7.4

)

(2.3

)

Service revenue

 

Q4

 

0.1

 

11.8

 

(4.9

)

7.0

 

Service revenue excluding the impact of MTR cuts

 

Q4

 

0.9

 

11.8

 

(4.9

)

7.8

 

Enterprise service revenue

 

Q4

 

1.4

 

9.8

 

(6.0

)

5.2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EUROPE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Revenue

 

Q1

 

1.1

 

4.3

 

(9.3

)

(3.9

)

Mobile in-bundle revenue

 

Q1

 

1.7

 

1.5

 

(9.3

)

(6.1

)

Mobile out-of-bundle revenue

 

Q1

 

(13.1

)

(0.2

)

(7.5

)

(20.8

)

Mobile incoming revenue

 

Q1

 

(4.3

)

0.9

 

(8.1

)

(11.5

)

Fixed line revenue

 

Q1

 

1.7

 

17.2

 

(10.3

)

8.6

 

Other revenue

 

Q1

 

2.9

 

(0.8

)

(8.9

)

(6.8

)

Service revenue

 

Q1

 

(1.5

)

4.4

 

(9.1

)

(6.2

)

Service revenue excluding the impact of MTR cuts

 

Q1

 

(1.3

)

4.4

 

(9.1

)

(6.0

)

 

11


 

 

 

 

 

Change

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other activity

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(including

 

Foreign

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Organic

 

M&A)

 

exchange

 

Reported

 

 

 

Period

 

%

 

pps

 

pps

 

%

 

Mobile service revenue

 

Q1

 

(2.5

)

0.9

 

(8.7

)

(10.4

)

Germany - Service revenue

 

Q1

 

(1.2

)

 

(11.2

)

(12.4

)

Germany - Mobile service revenue

 

Q1

 

(2.1

)

0.1

 

(11.2

)

(13.2

)

Germany - Fixed line revenue

 

Q1

 

0.2

 

 

(11.4

)

(11.2

)

KDG - Service revenue

 

Q1

 

6.6

 

 

(12.2

)

(5.6

)

Italy - Service revenue

 

Q1

 

(2.0

)

 

(11.1

)

(13.1

)

Italy - Mobile service revenue

 

Q1

 

(3.2

)

 

(10.9

)

(14.1

)

Italy - Fixed line revenue

 

Q1

 

4.4

 

 

(12.3

)

(7.9

)

UK - Service revenue

 

Q1

 

0.2

 

(0.5

)

 

(0.3

)

UK - Mobile service revenue

 

Q1

 

0.7

 

(0.7

)

 

 

UK - Fixed line revenue

 

Q1

 

(1.3

)

 

0.1

 

(1.2

)

Spain - Service revenue

 

Q1

 

(5.5

)

36.0

 

(15.0

)

15.5

 

Spain - Service revenue excluding impact of handset financing

 

Q1

 

(3.3

)

36.0

 

(15.0

)

17.7

 

Spain - Mobile service revenue

 

Q1

 

(9.5

)

8.3

 

(11.3

)

(12.5

)

Spain - Fixed line revenue

 

Q1

 

4.2

 

306.5

 

(48.7

)

262.0

 

Other Europe - Service revenue

 

Q1

 

0.6

 

3.0

 

(11.8

)

(8.2

)

Netherlands - Service revenue

 

Q1

 

1.0

 

 

(11.5

)

(10.5

)

Ireland - Service revenue

 

Q1

 

(0.1

)

 

(11.4

)

(11.5

)

Portugal - Service revenue

 

Q1

 

(2.6

)

 

(11.0

)

(13.6

)

Greece - Service revenue

 

Q1

 

0.4

 

29.0

 

(15.0

)

14.4

 

Service revenue

 

Q4

 

(2.6

)

16.1

 

(8.9

)

4.6

 

Service revenue excluding the impact of MTR cuts

 

Q4

 

(2.2

)

16.1

 

(8.9

)

5.0

 

Mobile service revenue

 

Q4

 

(3.4

)

11.6

 

(8.6

)

(0.4

)

Fixed line revenue

 

Q4

 

1.2

 

29.7

 

(9.7

)

21.2

 

Germany - Service revenue

 

Q4

 

(3.5

)

1.6

 

(10.0

)

(11.9

)

Germany - Mobile service revenue

 

Q4

 

(3.2

)

(0.0

)

(9.9

)

(13.1

)

Germany - Fixed line revenue

 

Q4

 

(4.8

)

5.1

 

(10.2

)

(9.9

)

Italy - Service revenue

 

Q4

 

(4.1

)

133.8

 

(28.6

)

101.1

 

Italy - Mobile service revenue

 

Q4

 

(6.3

)

130.0

 

(28.0

)

95.7

 

Italy - Fixed line revenue

 

Q4

 

8.9

 

156.8

 

(32.4

)

133.3

 

UK - Service revenue

 

Q4

 

(0.6

)

5.8

 

 

5.2

 

UK - Mobile service revenue

 

Q4

 

1.1

 

0.1

 

0.1

 

1.3

 

UK - Fixed line revenue

 

Q4

 

(5.7

)

22.4

 

(0.1

)

16.6

 

Spain - Service revenue

 

Q4

 

(7.8

)

35.2

 

(13.1

)

14.3

 

Spain - Mobile service revenue

 

Q4

 

(9.3

)

7.1

 

(10.1

)

(12.3

)

Spain - Fixed line revenue

 

Q4

 

5.8

 

303.0

 

(41.7

)

267.1

 

Other Europe - Service revenue

 

Q4

 

(0.9

)

2.5

 

(10.5

)

(8.9

)

Netherlands - Service revenue

 

Q4

 

3.2

 

 

(10.4

)

(7.2

)

Ireland - Service revenue

 

Q4

 

(6.4

)

 

(9.7

)

(16.1

)

Portugal - Service revenue

 

Q4

 

(3.8

)

 

(9.3

)

(13.1

)

Greece - Service revenue

 

Q4

 

(2.0

)

28.1

 

(12.4

)

13.7

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AMAP

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Revenue

 

Q1

 

8.1

 

(0.1

)

(2.5

)

5.5

 

Mobile in-bundle revenue

 

Q1

 

20.1

 

 

(4.9

)

15.2

 

Mobile out-of-bundle revenue

 

Q1

 

 

 

(0.6

)

(0.6

)

Mobile incoming revenue

 

Q1

 

(9.3

)

 

(1.3

)

(10.6

)

Fixed line revenue

 

Q1

 

14.4

 

21.6

 

(7.3

)

28.7

 

Other revenue

 

Q1

 

18.2

 

(30.5

)

0.5

 

(11.8

)

Service revenue

 

Q1

 

6.1

 

 

(2.1

)

4.0

 

Service revenue excluding the impact of MTR cuts

 

Q1

 

7.7

 

 

(2.1

)

5.6

 

India - Service revenue

 

Q1

 

6.9

 

 

3.7

 

10.6

 

India - Service revenue excluding the impact of MTR cuts

 

Q1

 

10.6

 

 

3.7

 

14.3

 

Vodacom - Service revenue

 

Q1

 

4.5

 

 

(3.7

)

0.8

 

South Africa - Service revenue

 

Q1

 

2.8

 

 

(4.4

)

(1.6

)

South Africa - Data revenue

 

Q1

 

34.8

 

 

(5.6

)

29.2

 

Vodacom’s international operations - Service revenue

 

Q1

 

10.7

 

 

(2.9

)

7.8

 

Other AMAP - Service revenue

 

Q1

 

6.8

 

 

(6.4

)

0.4

 

Turkey - Service revenue

 

Q1

 

15.0

 

 

(15.0

)

 

Egypt - Service revenue

 

Q1

 

6.1

 

 

1.9

 

8.0

 

Ghana - Service revenue

 

Q1

 

19.0

 

 

(23.8

)

(4.8

)

New Zealand - Service Revenue

 

Q1

 

(0.7

)

 

(6.4

)

(7.1

)

 

12


 

 

 

 

 

Change

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other activity

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(including

 

Foreign

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Organic

 

M&A)

 

exchange

 

Reported

 

 

 

Period

 

%

 

pps

 

pps

 

%

 

Service revenue

 

Q4

 

5.8

 

2.2

 

3.2

 

11.2

 

Service revenue excluding the impact of MTR cuts

 

Q4

 

7.3

 

2.2

 

3.2

 

12.7

 

India - Service revenue

 

Q4

 

11.7

 

 

9.2

 

20.9

 

India - Service revenue excluding the impact of MTR cuts

 

Q4

 

13.2

 

 

9.2

 

22.4

 

Vodacom - Service revenue

 

Q4

 

(0.2

)

 

1.4

 

1.2

 

South Africa - Service revenue

 

Q4

 

(2.0

)

 

1.0

 

(1.0

)

Vodacom’s international operations - Service revenue

 

Q4

 

5.3

 

 

2.2

 

7.5

 

Other AMAP - Service revenue

 

Q4

 

5.5

 

7.1

 

(0.9

)

11.7

 

Turkey - Service revenue

 

Q4

 

13.0

 

 

(2.1

)

10.9

 

Egypt - Service revenue

 

Q4

 

3.4

 

25.9

 

2.2

 

31.5

 

Ghana - Service revenue

 

Q4

 

17.2

 

 

(25.2

)

(8.0

)

New Zealand - Service Revenue

 

Q4

 

(2.7

)

 

0.1

 

(2.6

)

 

13

 


 

OTHER INFORMATION

 

Notes

 

1.        Vodafone, the Vodafone Portrait, the Vodafone Speechmark, Vodacom, Vodafone One and M-Pesa are trademarks of the Vodafone Group. Other product and company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners. All rights reserved.

 

2.        All growth rates reflect a comparison to the quarter ended 30 June 2015 unless otherwise stated.

 

3.        References to “the quarter” are to the quarter ended 30 June 2015 unless otherwise stated. References to the “previous quarter” are to the quarter ended 31 March 2015 unless otherwise stated. References to the “year” or “current financial year” are to the financial year ending 31 March 2016 and references to the “prior financial year” are to the financial year ended 31 March 2015 unless otherwise stated.

 

4.        All amounts marked with an “*” represent organic growth which presents performance on a comparable basis, both in terms of merger and acquisition activity and movements in foreign exchange rates.

 

For the quarter ended 31 March 2015 and consequently the year ended 31 March 2015, the Group’s organic service revenue growth rate was adjusted to exclude the beneficial impact of a settlement of an historical interconnect rate dispute in the UK and the beneficial impact of an upward revision to interconnect revenue in Egypt from a re-estimation by management of the appropriate historical mobile interconnection rate. The adjustments in relation to Vodafone UK and Vodafone Egypt also impacted the disclosed organic growth rates for those countries. In addition, the Group’s organic service revenue growth rates for the year ended 31 March 2015 and the quarters ended 31 March 2015 and 30 June 2015 have been amended to exclude the adverse impact of an adjustment to intercompany revenue.

 

For the 2016 financial year, the Group has amended its reporting to reflect changes in the internal management of its Enterprise business. The primary change has been that on 1 April 2015, the Group redefined its segments to report international voice transit service revenue within common functions rather than within the service revenue amount disclosed for each country and region. The service revenue amounts presented for the quarter ended 30 June 2014 have been restated onto a comparable basis together with all disclosed organic service revenue growth rates. There is no impact on total Group service revenues.

 

5.        Reported growth is based on amounts in pounds sterling as determined under IFRS.

 

6.        Vodacom refers to the Group’s interest Vodacom Group Limited (‘Vodacom’) in South Africa and its subsidiaries, including its operations in the DRC, Lesotho, Mozambique and Tanzania.

 

7.        Quarterly historical information including information for service revenue, mobile customers, churn, voice usage, messaging volumes, data volumes, ARPU, smartphones and fixed broadband customers is provided in a spreadsheet available at vodafone.com/investor.

 

Definitions of terms

 

Term

 

Definition

ARPU

 

Average revenue per user, defined as customer revenue and incoming revenue divided by average customers.

 

 

 

Incoming revenue

 

Comprises revenue from termination rates for voice and messaging to Vodafone customers.

 

 

 

Mobile in-bundle revenue

 

Represents revenue from bundles that include a specified number of minutes, messages or megabytes of data that can be used for no additional charge, with some expectation of recurrence. Includes revenue from all contract bundles and add-ons lasting 30 days or more as well as revenue from prepay bundles lasting seven days or more.

 

 

 

Mobile out-of-bundle

 

Revenue from minutes, messages or megabytes of data which are in excess of the amount included in customer bundles.

 

For definitions of other terms please refer to pages 211 to 212 of the Group’s Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2015.

 

14


 

Forward-looking statements

 

This report contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 with respect to the Group’s financial condition, results of operations and businesses and certain of the Group’s plans and objectives.

 

In particular, such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: statements with respect to: expectations regarding the Group’s financial condition or results of operations, including the Group Chief Executive’s statement in this report; the confirmation of the Group’s guidance for the 2016 financial year, expectations for the Group’s future performance generally, including growth and capital expenditure; statements relating to the Group’s Project Spring investment programme; expectations regarding the operating environment and market conditions and trends, including customer usage, competitive position and macroeconomic pressures, price trends and opportunities in specific geographic markets; intentions and expectations regarding the development, launch and expansion of products, services and technologies, either introduced by Vodafone or by Vodafone in conjunction with third parties or by third parties independently, including M-Pesa, and the launch of a number of additional features; growth in customers and usage; expectations regarding spectrum licence acquisitions, including anticipated new 3G and 4G availability and the customer uptake associated therewith; expectations regarding capital expenditure, free cash flow, and foreign exchange rate movements; expectations regarding the integration or performance of current and future investments, associates, joint ventures, non-controlled interests and newly acquired businesses, including KDG, Ono and Neotel; and the outcome and impact of regulatory and legal proceedings involving Vodafone and of scheduled or potential regulatory changes.

 

Forward-looking statements are sometimes, but not always, identified by their use of a date in the future or such words as “will”, “anticipates”, “aims”, “could”, “may”, “should”, “expects”, “believes”, “intends”, “plans” or “targets” (including in their negative form). By their nature, forward-looking statements are inherently predictive, speculative and involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future. There are a number of factors that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, the following: changes in economic or political conditions in markets served by operations of the Group that would adversely affect the level of demand for its mobile services; greater than anticipated competitive activity, from both existing competitors and new market entrants, which could require changes to the Group’s pricing models, lead to customer churn, affect the relative appeal of the Group’s products and services as compared to those of its competitors or make it more difficult for the Group to acquire new customers; the impact of investment in network capacity and the deployment of new technologies, or the rapid obsolescence of existing technology; higher than expected costs or capital expenditures; slower than expected customer growth and reduced customer retention; changes in the spending patterns of new and existing customers and the possibility that new products and services offered by the Group will not be commercially accepted or do not perform according to expectations; the Group’s ability to expand its spectrum position or renew or obtain necessary licences, including for spectrum; the Group’s ability to achieve cost savings; the Group’s ability to execute its strategy in fibre deployment, network expansion, new product and service roll-outs, mobile data, enterprise and broadband and in emerging markets; changes in foreign exchange rates, including, in particular, changes in the exchange rate of pounds sterling, the currency in which the Group prepares its financial statements, to the euro, the US dollar and other currencies in which the Group generates its revenue, as well as changes in interest rates; the Group’s ability to realise benefits from entering into partnerships or joint ventures and entering into service franchising and brand licensing; unfavourable consequences to the Group of making and integrating acquisitions or disposals; changes to the regulatory framework in which the Group operates, including possible action by regulators in markets in which the Group operates or by the EU to regulate rates the Group is permitted to charge; the impact of legal or other proceedings against the Group or other companies in the mobile telecommunications industry; loss of suppliers or disruption of supply chains; developments in the Group’s financial condition, earnings and distributable funds and other factors that the Board takes into account when determining levels of dividends; the Group’s ability to satisfy working capital and other requirements through access to bank facilities, funding in the capital markets and its operations; changes in statutory tax rates or profit mix which might impact the Group’s weighted average tax rate; and/or changes in tax legislation or final resolution of open tax issues which might impact the Group’s tax payments or effective tax rate.

 

Furthermore, a review of the reasons why actual results and developments may differ materially from the expectations disclosed or implied within forward-looking statements can be found under “Forward-looking statements” and “Risk management” in the Group’s Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2015. The Annual Report can be found on the Group’s website (vodafone.com/investor). All subsequent written or oral forward-looking statements attributable to the Company, to any member of the Group or to any persons acting on their behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the factors referred to above. No assurances can be given that the forward-looking statements in this document will be realised. Subject to compliance with applicable law and regulations, Vodafone does not intend to update these forward-looking statements and does not undertake any obligation to do so.

 

For further information:

 

 

Vodafone Group Plc

 

 

Investor Relations

 

Media Relations

Telephone: +44 7919 990 230

 

www.vodafone.com/media/contact

 

Copyright © Vodafone Group 2015

 

-ends-

 

15


 

SIGNATURES

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorised.

 

 

 

  VODAFONE GROUP

 

PUBLIC LIMITED COMPANY

 

  (Registrant)

 

 

 

 

Dated: July 24, 2015

 

 

 

 

 

 

By:

/s/ R E S MARTIN

 

Name: Rosemary Martin

 

Title: Group General Counsel and Company Secretary

 

16