Vodafone reports dip in pre-tax profits

vodafoneVodafone has reported a dip in pre-tax profits as it battles against strong competition in Europe. The mobile phone operator says it has cut costs and introduced a number of new initiatives and services to stimulate growth.

The group saw pre-tax profits fall from £8.8bn last year to £8.6bn for the year to March 31 as group revenue rose 4.3% to £31.1bn. It was also hit by regulatory fines of £53m in Greece and restructuring costs of £79m across Europe as it implemented price cuts to retain customers.

Vodafone chief executive Arun Sarin says: “These results show we have made good progress in the execution of our strategy.”

Over the year, the company has launched a fixed-line service for homes and business, which now has 5m customers, in addition to broadband services in five markets including the UK.

Sarin adds the past year has “seen a further reshaping of Vodafone’s portfolio, with our acquisitions in Turkey and India further increasing the group’s exposure to the exciting growth opportunities in emerging markets”.

Vodafone now has more than 200m customers worldwide and employs more than 60,000 staff. Of these, 10,000 are based in the UK.