Phone giant’s profits fall amid ‘fierce’ competition

Vodafone has reported a 4.9 per cent fall in group revenues to £9.7 billion for the quarter to 30 June, blaming intense competition in Italy and Spain and a price war in India.

In chief executive Vittorio Colao’s final set of figures before handing over the reins in October, the phone giant’s service revenue growth had slowed to 0.3 per cent.

George Salmon, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “The longstanding problem with telecoms is that consumers want a better deal every time they renew a contract, and there’s little to differentiate between providers other than the price they charge. That means competition between networks can be fierce.”