Vodafone swings to loss but says German arm will return to growth this year

Vodafone has said it will return to sales growth in its struggling German business over the year ahead after swinging to an annual loss, but flagged concerns over “significant uncertainties” in the global economy.

The group slumped to an annual operating loss of 411 million euros (£346 million) against earnings of 3.67 billion (£3.09 billion) the previous year after booking 4.5 billion euros (£3.8 billion) in write-downs on its businesses in Germany and Romania.

On bottom line basis, it posted pre-tax losses of 1.48 billion euros (£1.25 billion), against profits of 1.62 billion euros (£1.36 billion) in 2023-24.

It came after Vodafone took impairment charges of 4.35 billion euros (£3.66 billion) on its German division, with a further 165 million euros (£139 million) for its business in Romania.

But it said on an underlying basis, earnings met its guidance, edging 0.8% lower to 10.9 billion euros (£9.2 billion) as service revenues rose 2.8% to 30.8 billion euros (£25.9 billion).

The group announced plans for up to 2 billion euros (£1.7 billion) in share buy-backs, kicking off with an initial 500 million euros (£421 million).

Vodafone is guiding for underlying earnings of between 11 billion euros and 11.3 billion euros (£9.3 billion to £9.5 billion) in 2025-26.

However, it cautioned: “The current macroeconomic climate presents significant uncertainties, particularly on trade and foreign exchange rates, which may impact our financial performance in the year ahead.”

Chief executive Margherita Della Valle is leading a major overhaul of the group, merging its British business with Three UK to create the UK’s biggest mobile operator, while also selling off its businesses in Spain and Italy.

She said: “Since I set out my plans to transform Vodafone two years ago, Vodafone has changed.”

She added: “Clearly there is much more to do, but this period of transition has repositioned Vodafone for multi-year growth.

“Looking ahead, we expect to see broad-based momentum across Europe and Africa, and for Germany to return to top-line growth during this year.”

Its German arm – its largest market, accounting for 34% of group service revenues – saw service revenues drop 5% over the past year.

The German division has been hit by a law that has barred housing associations from bundling TV packages with rent.

In the UK, Vodafone’s merger with Three UK is set to complete in the coming weeks.

In order to address competition concerns in the UK with regulators, Vodafone and Three UK agreed to invest billions in rolling out a combined 5G network across the UK.

The companies have also been told to offer shorter-term customer protections, which would require the merged company to cap certain mobile tariffs for three years.

Vodafone will own 51% of the equity and after three years will have the option to buy the rest of the merged company.