Vodafone recorded growing revenues in Q4 2024 despite losses in Germany, its largest single market.
The Vodafone Group’s revenue increased by 5% year-on-year to €9.8 billion, according to the company. Adjusted operating profit (EBITDA) rose by 2.2% to €2.8 billion. Vodafone reaffirmed its annual targets, which include an adjusted EBITDA of €11 billion. The financial year ends in just under two months.
In Germany, service revenue declined by 6.4%, while other markets recorded growth. CEO Margherita Della Valle stated that the group’s service revenues overall increased by 5.2% to €7.9 billion, driven by growth in the UK and strong performances in Turkey and Africa. She emphasised that a gradual improvement was becoming noticeable in Germany. Vodafone Deutschland CEO Marcel de Groot said: “We are in a transition year with market challenges. But we aim to grow again soon and are setting the course for that.”
On 1 July 2024, a new law came into force in Germany which allows tenants to freely choose their TV service provider. Previously, many appartements were equipped with a cable subscription as a standard, whether the tenants used it or not, with the subscription billed with the monthly ancillary costs.
As a result, Vodafone saw a significant customer loss of more than 2 million in Q3 2024. In comparison, the decline in Q4 2024 – 66,000 customers, bringing the total to 8.83 million – is relatively small. According to Vodafone, this decrease is partly due to late effects of the legal change and partly due to normal business fluctuations.
According to de Groot, the decline in TV customers had “almost stopped”. He added that the company expects to achieve its goal of retaining more than half of the affected TV users as customers.
