Vodafone Group PLC (LSE:VOD) reported revenue growth of 1.6% to nearly €11.28bn for the first quarter of fiscal 2023 in a trading update today.
The mobile phone operator said it generated 8.3% growth year on year in the UK market, driven by contractual annual price increases, customer base growth and higher roaming revenue.
Mobile service revenue in that market saw the biggest growth of 12.1% year over year to more than €1bn, up from €895mln a year earlier, offsetting declines in other European markets.
Nick Read, group chief executive of Vodafone, said: "We have executed in line with our expectations, delivered another quarter of growth in both Europe and Africa, and seen an acceleration in business growth.
“Whilst we are not immune to the current macroeconomic challenges, we're on track to deliver financial results for the year in line with our guidance.”
Vodafone said it is on track to deliver adjusted underlying earnings (after leases) of between €15bn and €15.5bn and adjusted free cash flow of €5.3bn for the year.
Read said its near-term focus on its operational and portfolio priorities “remains unchanged” and that it continues to pursue opportunities with connectivity tower operator Vantage Towers to strengthen its position in Europe.
The phone service provider added 18,000 new mobile contract customers in the UK market in the quarter while focusing on implementing price changes.
European mobile contract customers reached 66.5mln, up from 65.6mln a year earlier.
Service revenue in Spain declined by 2.9%, driven by promotional activity in the value segment and a reduction in mobile termination rates, Vodafone said.
Italy revenue also fell by 2.2% as a result of promotions in the mobile value segment, which Vodafone said reflects “higher than usual wholesale” mobile virtual network operator revenue in the fourth quarter of the prior fiscal year.
German revenue, where Read said the company had focused on “stabilising” commercial performance fell 0.5% reflecting the impact of the new Telecommunications Act.