Vodafone notches up big numbers

"Our global scale and scope are really coming to the fore now"

Vodafone has announced record revenues and profits for its full year results, ending 31 March.

The mobile operator has turned in pre-tax profits of £13bn, before write-downs, a record for a UK company. Revenues increased 4.3 per cent year-on-year to £34.1bn.

While the financial press will concentrate on a share buyback push and a dividend that the company's board has confirmed will now double, Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin in a conference call also spoke enthusiastically about organic customer growth of 12 per cent globally. The operator now has around 155 million subscribers.

"Country by country, save Japan, we are performing very well," he said. "Our global scale and scope are really coming to the fore now."

Japan, where Vodafone plays third fiddle with around 16 per cent to 17 per cent market share to NTT DoCoMo and KDDI, remains the most glaring problem area.

In other major markets such as Germany, Italy and Spain, Sarin said his operations outperformed the incumbents. In Germany, Vodafone once again shares top spot with T-Mobile with around 38 per cent to 39 per cent of the market, he said.

3G is also going well. The company now counts 2.4 million 3G customers, about 2.1 million of those consumers and half a million using 3G datacards.

"Here in Europe, we are leading the parade on 3G," Sarin said.

In recent weeks, Vodafone has taken email mobile across Europe and announced handsets for those who don't want all the bells and whistles.