LONDON (Reuters) – Vodafone said on Tuesday it was considering a series of options in Italy, the latest in a series of “difficult” markets that the British telecoms group has decided to tackle, as its second-quarter revenue fell was driven by a return to growth in Germany.

Margherita Della Valle, managing director, welcomed the steps taken to simplify the group’s structure and said they had identified three markets that will undergo consolidation in May, adding that steps have been taken for two of them. between them.

“No operator in Italy offers a return higher than the cost of capital, none,” she told reporters.

Margherita Della Valle clarified that the situation in Italy is “very different” from that in Spain, emphasizing the strength of the Vodafone brand and its network.

The market itself needs action, said Margherita Della Valle.

“We are considering a range of options,” she added. “We don’t have deadlines, we don’t have deadlines.”

Vodafone executives are studying several possible deals, including the sale or joint venture of the group’s other operations in Italy, two people familiar with the situation told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

Potential deal candidates include Iliad, which last year presented an 11 billion euro offer for the asset, according to other sources.

Iliad reported on Tuesday an increase of 382,000 new subscribers in Italy in the third quarter, its best performance in three years.

An Iliad spokesperson declined to comment, although its chief executive, Thomas Reynaud, told reporters Tuesday: “If there is consolidation in Italy, we want to actively participate in it.”

Il Sole 24 Ore newspaper said this weekend that Swisscom-owned Fastweb could be another potential buyer.

Margherita Della Valle declined to comment on speculation regarding either company.

(Reporting Paul Sandle; with contributions from Victor Goury-Laffont, Elvira Pollina and Amy-Jo Crowley; Augustin Turpin, editing by Kate Entringer)

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