British mobile phone giant Vodafone on Tuesday posted a huge post-tax loss for its first half, linked primarily to a writedown in Germany, but raised its outlook with total revenue increasing.
The group, which late on Monday said it would axe 2,300 jobs in Germany, booked an impairment there totalling €4.85 billion ($5.45bn) for the six months to end-September.
Vodafone added in an earnings statement that it suffered a net loss of €4.79 billion in its first half.
It had reported a profit after tax of €829 million in the first half of its 2025/26 fiscal year.
“I am very happy about our overall group performance, but Germany is not yet where it needs to be,” chief executive Margherita Della Valle said in the release.
Vodafone said its Germany impairment was “primarily driven by adverse changes in interest rates”.
The telecoms group had in recent years struggled badly in the country after German legislation stopped housing associations bundling TV contracts with rent.
Offsetting Vodafone’s latest writedowns, including €2.2 billion linked to taxation in the UK, was news that total revenue grew 11.4% to €21.9 billion in the first half.
This was in large part thanks to the consolidation of VodafoneThree, following Vodafone’s buyout of CK Hutchison’s stake in the UK joint venture.
Revenue was boosted also by the integration of Kenya’s Safaricom and Telekom Romania.
Looking ahead, Vodafone said it expected adjusted earnings of between €13.2 billion and €13.4 billion for its full year, up from €13bn-€13.3bn.
Vodafone made savings of more than €200 million in its first half as it cut 3,000 staff across Europe.
In July, French tycoon Xavier Niel paid €5.1 billion to become Vodafone’s largest shareholder.
Following the update, Vodafone’s share price dropped 0.8% after initially rising on London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index.
“Niel’s presence… is likely to keep the pressure on, with the continuing struggles in Germany the next big hurdle to overcome,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.
Della Valle in 2023 launched a sweeping overhaul of the company, including thousands of job cuts and the sale of its operations in Italy and Spain, as it focused on its core Germany and UK markets.
Source: www.euronews.com
