The world's biggest mobile operator, Vodafone, has reported pre-tax losses of just under £15 billion sterling for the year to the end of March. This was the biggest loss in UK corporate history. It has also announced plans to cut 400 jobs at its headquarters in Newbury in Britain and return more money to shareholders.
Meanwhile, the Vodafone group's massive pre-tax loss was caused by the company's writing down the value of its assets, including the worth of its £100 billion acquisition of Germany's Mannesmann in 2000.
In Ireland, Vodafone added 28,000 customers in the past three months, bringing its total to 2,075,000. Average revenue per user (ARPU), a measure of how much the company makes from each customer, fell from just over €50 to €48.60 in the three months to the end of March.
Vodafone Ireland said the total number of voice minutes was up 10% in the year, showing that a decline in usage costs meant customers were using phones more. Voice usage per customer in Ireland is the highest of all its European subsidiaries, it says. Vodafone Ireland now has 237,000 third generation (3G) customers.
Across the group, revenue from continuing businesses was up 7.5% to £29.4 billion over the year, while earnings per share were up 13% to 10p, higher than expected by analysts. The group added 21.6 million customers over the year, bringing its total to 170.6 million.
A final dividend of 3.87p per share has been declared, and the group also announced plans to return a further £3 billion to shareholders in August. This is on top of £6 billion which the group plans to distribute following the sale of its Japanese business.
The 400 jobs in Britain are going as part of a cost-cutting plan which includes the outsourcing of some IT and maintenance operations.
Vodafone also announced its plans to expand into new areas of business through a a package of new offerings to be called 'Mobile Plus'. Chief executive Arun Sarin hopes these will generate as much as 10% of its business - around £3 billion - within three to four years.
The first of the three hoped-for 'streams' of new business is through the home user. Among plans on the table are new tariffs offering cheaper calls on mobiles at home, as well as a possible tie-up with an internet provider to sell broadband under the Vodafone brand.
The company already offers cards which can be slipped into laptops to give high-speed internet access using the 3G mobile network. But it is hoping that upgrading its 3G masts to carry a new, faster, system called HSDPA - already available in some countries - will also attract new business. The idea is to potentially offer all four services - mobile, fixed-line, broadband and HSDPA internet connections - on one bill.
