Vodafone Remains Mired in Europe

The Vodafone Group reported a 4% decline in service revenue on an organic basis in the quarter ending March 31st. For the year to March 31, group service revenue was down 4.3% as Vodafone's European operations continued to decline. However, service revenues rose 13% in India, 4.1% in the Vodacom group (southern Africa) and 7.9% in Turkey.

Total group revenue for the year to March 31 was down 2.2% on an organic basis to 38.35 billion British pounds (64.8 billion US dollars). Vodafone said it plans to spend about 19 billion pounds in capex in the two years to March 2016, "with capital intensity subsequently normalising to 13-14% of annual revenue." source: Vodafone presentation

Mobile Data Keeps Vodacom Growing

Vodacom said its revenue rose 7.4% on a organic basis in the year to March 31 to 75.71 billion South African rand (7.32 billion US dollars). However, the rise in service revenue was more modest at 3.7% on an organic basis, as declines in voice and messaging revenue partially offset a sharp rise in data revenue.

Vodcaom said it will be increasing capital investment over the medium term to between 14% and 17% of group revenue. That figure was 14% in the year ending March 31.

Vodacom said in its international division (its operations in Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Nigeria and Lesotho) mobile financial services "continue to grow well" with M-Pesa customers increasing 21.6% to 6 million. In Tanzania, M-Pesa contributed 18.8% (2013: 14.1%) to service revenue. source: Vodacom presentation

Telecom Italia tries to Steady the Ship

Telecom Italia reported a 6.2% fall in revenues on an organic basis in the first quarter of 2014 to 5.19 billion euros. Revenues in Italy fell 8.3%, dragged down by a 15.6% fall in mobile service revenue,  compounded by a fall of 0.2% in Brazil.

The group said it is aiming for stable revenues between 2013 and 2016, while keeping capex at 18% of revenues in Italy and 17% of revenues in Brazil.

Telecom Italia said: "On the domestic market, while competitive dynamics cooled, particularly in the mobile telephony sector, average revenue per customer continued to fall in traditional services, partly as an initial result of a repositioning strategy towards bundle and/or combined fixed-mobile plans which – against a decline in near term profitability – will allow market share to be retained in the short term and expenditure and hence revenue to be gradually stabilised in the medium to long term. Results also continue to be affected negatively by a number of regulatory dynamics and aspects, particularly regarding the prices of wholesale services." source: Telecom Italia presentation

Telefónica: A Tale of Two Regions

Telefónica reported a 1.5% year-on-year rise in revenues on an organic basis in the first quarter of 2014 to 12.32 billion euros. Revenue declines of 8.2% in Spain and 8.8% in Germany were offset by a 14.8% rise in Spanish-speaking Latin America. In Brazil, revenues were up 0.2% and in the U.K. down 0.3%.

César Alierta, Executive Chairman, said:  “First quarter results show visible progress in the execution of the strategy announced for 2014, based on further reinforcing the differentiation of our products and services through a non-replicable infrastructure. In this sense, we are making significant investments, accelerating our network modernisation. Investments related with transformation and growth accounted for over two thirds of the total in the first quarter, enabling us to significantly expand our new fibre and LTE services." source: Telefónica statement

U.S. Rejuvenates Deutsche Telekom

Deutsche Telekom said its revenues rose 4.2% on an organic basis in the first quarter of 2014 to 14.89  billion euros. In its home market, Germany, revenues fell 1.5%, dragged down by a 3% decline in fixed revenues. But in the U.S., organic revenues rose 16% as T-Mobile US added 2.39 million customers in the first quarter.

The Bonn-based company said: "T-Mobile US has once again caused a sensation on the U.S. mobile market with a new initiative. Since January, as part of the Un-carrier phase 4.0, the company has been reimbursing new customers’ early termination fees charged by previous providers. This contributed to further very strong customer growth."

"Our success story in the United States continues. The decision to invest boldly in this market was right on the mark," added Tim Höttges, CEO of Deutsche Telekom. "We are once again delivering figures in the first quarter that confirm we are on the right track to achieving our leadership ambition in Europe's telecommunications industry."

However, in the group's European operations (other than Germany), revenue was down 2.6% on an organic basis, while T-Systems' revenue fell 4.1% on an organic basis. source: Deutsche Telekom statement