Indian woes see Vodafone dial up drop in revenues
Revenues at telecoms giant Vodafone dipped in the first quarter as the group was again held back by its under-pressure Indian business.
Sales across the group fell 3.3 per cent to €11.47 billion (£10.2bn) in the quarter to 30 June, with revenue in India plummeting 13.9 per cent amid “continued price competition”.
Earlier this year, Vodafone booked a €3.7bn writedown on its Indian unit after striking a deal to merge the operation with Idea Cellular to help tackle a price war in the country. In the UK, revenue fell 4.5 per cent to €1.75bn as it was hit by falling sales and the impact of the pound’s slide since the Brexit vote.
The deconsolidation of Vodafone Netherlands and foreign exchange movements also dented the firm’s performance in the period.
Better figures were seen in Spain and Italy, where the firm reported robust growth, along with Africa, the Middle East and Asia, with sales rising by 1.2 per cent.