Vodafone Group PLC shares fell 5.2% on Thursday morning after the telecoms group reported service revenue in key markets that missed expectations for the third quarter.
On the plus side, the FTSE 100 group said it expects to deliver at the upper end of its profit and cash flow targets for the year, and launched a new €500 million share buyback.
Group service revenues were up 5.4% on an organic basis in the past quarter, down from 5.8% growth in the second quarter and below the City’s forecast of 6.0%.
In the UK, revenue slipped 0.5%, which it said was as expected, but in Germany, the group’s largest market, growth was well short of forecasts at just 0.1%.
The performance was stronger elsewhere, with Africa continuing to deliver double-digit growth, up 13.5%, while Türkiye also made a solid contribution.
The integration of Three UK, which Vodafone merged with last year, was said to be “firmly on track”.
Group chief executive Margherita Della Valle said: “We maintained good service revenue momentum in the third quarter across both Europe and Africa, supported by top-line growth in Germany, and strong contributions from Türkiye and Africa.
"After a fast start, we are making very good progress with the integration of our UK business”.
Cash profits, as measured by adjusted EBITDAaL, rose 2.3% to €2.8 billion on an organic basis.
Shares fell 5.2% to 108.4p on the morning, having risen over 70% in the past year.