Full year revenue rose 4% to €45.6bn reflecting growth in Europe and Africa Service revenue. Total Service revenue rose 2.6% to €38.2bn. Underlying cash profits rose 5% to €15.2bn. Performance was in-line with previous guidance.
A final dividend of 4.5 cents was announced, taking the full year payment to 9 cents.
Nick Read, CEO, highlighted the group expects to deliver a "resilient" performance in the new financial year, including underlying cash profits of €15 - €15.5bn, but highlighted Vodafone isn't immune to the wider macroeconomic challenges.
Vodafone also acknowledged that: "On 14 May 2022, Vodafone was informed by Emirates Telecommunications Group Company ('Etisalat') that they have become the Group's largest shareholder with a 9.8% stake".
The shares fell 3.0% following the announcement.
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Our view
With pandemic restrictions in retreat, Vodafone's business levels have ramped back up. Handset sales are normalising after customers ventured back into the world, while lucrative roaming fees are back as international travel resumes. The underlying trend seems to be one of gathering momentum.
Vodafone, and telecoms generally, have some exciting opportunities ahead with the roll out of 5G. However, competition remains intense, capital expenditure eye watering, and governments continue to raise prices more than expected when companies bid to use chunks of the electromagnetic spectrum for mobile data, putting pressure on cash flows.
Vodafone's net debt pile stood at €41.6bn at the last count, after the acquisition of Liberty Global assets in Europe and the sale of some European tower assets in the Vantage Towers IPO. That leaves the group at the upper end of its net debt to cash profits target.
Keeping debt under control is all the more crucial given Vodafone's bull case has long been based on an attractive dividend. The question now is whether the sharper focus on the European consumer markets can help the group grow shareholder returns over time.
The Liberty deal should help.
The acquisition created more cross-selling opportunities. Vodafone's long been focused on rolling out broadband, fixed line and TV services across its European markets, since customer retention is significantly better among those taking multiple products. Vodafone also reckons Liberty can deliver €535m a year in operating and capital expenditure savings within 5 years of completion.
Outside Europe the Vodacom subsidiary has some exciting growth opportunities in Africa, including M-Pesa which offers mobile financial services. Africa could become increasingly important as the region develops, and Vodafone's leading position in several markets means it's well positioned to benefit.
Unfortunately, these initiatives don't really address the industry's biggest challenge. Despite the multi-billion investments in mobile spectrum, there's not much differentiating mobile providers other than the price they charge. Customers often just go with the cheapest deal.
Speed-tiered unlimited data plans seem to be making some progress, allowing the group to price discriminate between customers based on how willing they are to pay for extra speed. But ultimately we don't think there's much preventing competitors from copying it if it proves to be a winner.
All-in-all then, while we think the portfolio changes and strategy make sense the fundamental challenges that go with being a telecom remain. With balance sheet pressure mounting and spectrum costs not going away Vodafone still has work to do before it can be said to be in rude health.
Vodafone key facts
All ratios are sourced from Refinitiv. Please remember yields are variable and not a reliable indicator of future income. Keep in mind key figures shouldn't be looked at on their own - it's important to understand the big picture.
Full year results
In Germany (30% of group revenue) total revenue rose 1.1% to €13.1bn, with organic service revenue rising 1.1% to €11.6bn. Service revenue was driven by growth in average revenue per user (ARPU) in broadband, as well as growth in Business and higher roaming and visitor revenue. The TV customer base fell 309,000, reflecting reduced retail activity during the pandemic, which resulted in fewer gross customer additions. Underlying cash profits (EBITDAaL) rose 6.5% to €5.7bn.
Service revenue rose 1.3% and 3% in the UK and Other Europe, while there were declines of 2% and 1.8% in Spain and Italy.
Vodacom service revenue rose 4.6% to €4.6bn, reflecting growth in South Africa and the division's international markets. There was once again good business demand, and 1.8m sim-only customers were added, compared to 272,000 mobile contract customers. EBITDAaL rose 3.4% to €2.1bn
Other Markets saw service revenue rise more sharply, up 19.4% to €3.4bn, thanks to a higher customer base and higher ARPU. However, a lot of this was offset by unfavourable exchange rates which meant total revenue, on a reported basis, rose only 1.7%. EBITDAaL rose 23% to €1.3bn.
Group underlying free cash flow rose around €400m to €5.4bn, while net debt rose €1bn to €41.6bn.
This article is original Hargreaves Lansdown content, published by Hargreaves Lansdown. It was correct as at the date of publication, and our views may have changed since then. Unless otherwise stated estimates, including prospective yields, are a consensus of analyst forecasts provided by Refinitiv. These estimates are not a reliable indicator of future performance. Yields are variable and not guaranteed. Investments rise and fall in value so investors could make a loss.
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