London - Vodafone Group PLC, the second-biggest mobile-phone company, reported its first service revenue gain in 11 quarters as European demand improved.
Service revenue, the money Newbury, England-based Vodafone gets from customers’ plans and traffic on its network, increased 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter through March, the company said on Tuesday. That was better than the average estimate by analysts, who saw unchanged service revenue in data compiled by Bloomberg.
Vodafone has been spending to expand its network and combat price wars that eroded its business in the past few years, particularly in the economically hard-hit markets in southern Europe. The wireless company, which is second only to China Mobile Ltd by customers, added cable and fibre internet packages and upgraded its mobile networks to give more customers access to high-speed fourth-generation service.
Vodafone shares dropped 0.2 percent in London trading on Monday to 234.10 pence. The stock had risen 5.1 percent this year before today.
Vodacom Group Ltd, Vodafone’s African unit, said on Monday that earnings declined for the 12 months ending in March as competition for customers in South Africa, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo increased.
Vodafone is also facing more competition in its home market where it is the No. 3 mobile carrier by customers. In the UK, BT Group PLC and EE Ltd are merging to create the biggest “quadruple play” provider, selling packages of TV, broadband, mobile and home phone services. Telefonica SA’s O2 and Hutchison Whampoa Ltd’s Three will also merge their mobile networks, surpassing EE to create the biggest wireless carrier.
Vodafone plans to start selling its own consumer broadband, TV and home-phone service in the UK. The company had examined a potential tie-up with billionaire John Malone’s Liberty Global, which would give Vodafone access to his fixed network in Europe and the UK, people familiar with the matter said last year.
Bloomberg