Vodafone today posted third-quarter results slightly below forecasts as increasingly tough trading in Spain and Italy overshadowed solid performances in emerging markets and northern Europe at the world's largest mobile operator.
Vodafone, which kept its outlook for the year unchanged, said the group organic service revenue from the provision of ongoing services to customers was up 0.9%, compared with an analyst forecast of 1.1%.
European organic service revenue was also worse than expected, down 1.7% as the financial squeeze on consumers in Italy, Spain and Greece from austerity measures pulled down solid performances in the two big northern markets of Britain and Germany.
Analysts had been expecting Europe to be down by 1.4%. Spain and Italy were both particularly weak, down 8.8% and 4.9% respectively.
"Europe service revenue decreased by 1.7%, a 0.5 percentage point deterioration compared to the previous quarter, reflecting increased economic pressures in a number of markets," the group said.
Balancing out southern Europe, growth within the faster-growing division of Africa, Middle East and Asia Pacific, known as AMAP, was 7.6% - solid but slightly below the forecast of 8.3%.
Service revenue in Britain was up 1.1% while Germany was up 0.7%, with both being driven by consumers using their mobile phones to access the internet.
"Despite the further deterioration of the southern European economic environment during the quarter, our broad geographic mix is delivering a resilient overall performance," chief executive Vittorio Colao said.
Vodafone Ireland says it added 22,700 customers during the three months to the end of December, bringing its total customer base to 2.47 million.
Smartphone sales jumped by 50% from the previous quarter and now account for two-thirds of all mobile bills at the company.
But average monthly revenue per user fell by 1.1% to €32.20.
