LONDON (Reuters) – Vodafone reported first-quarter revenue growth of 3.7% on Monday, driven by strong performance in Britain and a turnaround in Germany, Italy and Spain, marking a positive start for new chief executive Margherita Della Valle.
The mobile and broadband operator also said it had appointed former SAP chief financial officer Luka Mucic to the same role at Vodafone from September 1.
He will replace Margherita Della Valle, who took office permanently in April.
Services revenue, up 3.7%, improved “in almost all markets,” said the new CEO.
The decline in Germany, Vodafone’s biggest market, more than halved quarter-on-quarter to 1.3% as broadband price increases partially offset the impact of customer losses over the past 18 months, the company said.
Services revenue growth in Britain, where Vodafone formalized a merger with Hutchison last month, accelerated to 5.7%, boosted by strong consumer growth and annual price increases.
In Italy, improved business demand helped narrow the decline to -1.6% from -2.7% in the previous quarter, while Spain saw a weaker improvement from -3.7% to -3%.
Margherita Della Valle has been tasked with simplifying the group and reducing the decline of some of its biggest markets in Europe, hit by fierce competition.
On the London Stock Exchange, Vodafone shares took 4.4% at 08:12 GMT.
(Report Paul Sandle; Lina Golovnya, editing by Kate Entringer)
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