Telecoms group Vodafone Ireland said its service revenue for the third quarter rose by 2% to €207m on the back of continued growth in mobile and fixed broadband services.
Vodafone Ireland said its total fixed broadband customer base increased by 5.3% year-on-year to 310,800.
Its total mobile customer base increased by 2.5% on an annual basis, with nearly 50,000 additional contract and prepaid customers joining Vodafone.
Vodafone, through its joint venture with the ESB and SIRO, announced a €620m upgrade and expansion of its fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network, which will nearly double its reach to 770,000 homes and businesses.
Anne O'Leary, CEO of Vodafone Ireland, said the third quarter marked another positive quarter for the company.
"Our performance demonstrates ongoing momentum with increased service revenue and growth in customer numbers, in our fixed broadband and mobile base. We are also encouraged by strong growth in our Business division, with significant customer wins during the period," Ms O'Leary said.
Vodafone Ireland's parent company said today it was working to improve shareholder returns by tackling weaker parts of its business, as it reported a rise in quarterly revenue.
The company is being targeted by activist investor Cevian Capita.
Vodafone chief executive Nick Read said Vodafone had delivered a "solid quarter", with a 2.7% rise in third-quarter group service revenue, including consistent growth in its biggest market Germany.
Analysts, however, said investors were focused on consolidation opportunities in markets such as Italy and Spain, which have long been problematic for Vodafone.
CEO Nick Read, who has called for regulators to allow more consolidation, said the company was committed to creating value for its shareholders through proactive portfolio actions and continuing to improve returns at pace.
The group is focused on strengthening commercial momentum in Germany, he said, and accelerating its transformation in Spain, where revenue continued to decline.
Vodafone lost 53,000 contract mobile customers and 50,000 broadband customers in Spain, while it recorded its eighth consecutive quarter of decline in Italy.
Analysts at Citi said they believed the numbers should be satisfactory for the market.
"The focus is firmly on developments in terms of in-market consolidation in UK/Italy and Spain and other initiatives, including the de-consolidation of (towers business) Vantage," they said.
Reuters reported earlier this month that Vodafone and Iliad were in talks to combine their businesses in Italy, where operators continue to battle price pressure.
Vodafone said in November it expected to report adjusted core earnings of €15.2-15.4 billion and adjusted free cash flow of at least €5.3 billion.
Analysts expect adjusted core earnings of €15.26 billion and adjusted free cash flow of €5.34 billion, according to a company-compiled consensus.
Meanwhile, Vodafone is pursuing mergers with rivals in multiple European markets, spurred on by more favourable signals from regulators who have realised the value of network investment during the pandemic, chief executive Nick Read said.
"We are approaching consolidation with speed and resolve," he told reporters after Vodafone reported third-quarter numbers.
"We are active on a number of fronts and we are seeing good engagement from our counterparties which confirms that we have a series of potential opportunities to shape the business with stronger assets in healthier markets," he added.
The telecoms group has said it sees opportunities in Spain, Italy, Britain and Portugal.
Other parties would have to be pragmatic and realistic on valuation, he said, if deals were to happen. "We will be realistic on the valuation of our business."
Reuters reported earlier this month that Vodafone and Iliad were discussing a tie-up in Italy.
A report in Spain today said it was talking to MasMovil there, and other reports have previously linked the British company with Hutchison's Three in its home market.
Read said an industrial merger with a like-minded operator such as Orange or Deutsche Telekom would be the "ideal option" for the Vantage Towers business he spun out last year.
If that didn't materialise, there were other options such as a combinations with a tower company, he said.
Read declined to confirm that Cevian was on the register, but he said he had been talking about consolidation "for years".
"The important moment was Covid, which we've been dealing with for over two years, in terms of setting a different dialogue with policy makers," he said.
