Vodafone increasingly confident after resilient first half

LONDON: Vodafone, the world’s second largest mobile operator, nudged up its earnings outlook on Monday, saying it was increasingly confident after a “resilient” first half, despite the impact of COVID-19 obscuring its underlying momentum.

The British company was hit by the loss of roaming revenue as international travel was curtailed by the pandemic, resulting in a 0.4% drop in group service revenue in the second quarter.

Excluding roaming, service revenue grew 1.5%, the company said, helped by rises in its European contract customer base to 65 million and its broadband customers to 25.4 million, and speed-tiered unlimited data mobile plans in nine markets.