AFP
British telecommunications giant Vodafone announced
Monday that it rebounded back into profit in the first half of its
financial year in a “resilient” performance as it shrugged off the
fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
Profit after tax hit 1.3 billion euros ($1.5 billion) for the
six months to September, the mobile phone giant said in a results
statement.
That followed a net loss of 2.1 billion euros in the same period
a year earlier, which came after India’s Supreme Court ordered
telecoms companies to pay long-standing bills for past spectrum and
licensing fees.
Vodafone said revenues slid 2.3 percent to 21.4 billion euros in
the reporting period, as the pandemic slashed international travel
and roaming income and weighed also on handset demand.
“Today’s results underline increased confidence in our full-year
outlook,” said chief executive Nick Read.
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“We are reporting a resilient first-half performance and we
continue to see good commercial momentum across the group.
“The results demonstrate the success of our strategic priorities
to date, namely increasing customer loyalty, growing our fixed
broadband base, driving digitisation to simplify the company and
capture significant cost savings, and deliver 5G efficiently
through network sharing.”
He added however that the deadly coronavirus pandemic was
“obscuring” the group’s performance.
“Covid-19 and the reduction in roaming revenues, through the
significant reduction in international travel, is currently
obscuring our underlying commercial progress,” Read said.
“Now, more than ever, the connectivity services we provide are
critical for society and the demand is growing for our
services.
-AFP
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