Vodafone results for six months ended 30 September 2020
Delivering our strategic priorities at pace to reshape Vodafone
- Resilient financial performance during the first half of FY21, in line with our expectations
- Deepening customer engagement, with mobile contract customer loyalty improved year-on-year for an 8th successive quarter
- Launched 5G in 127 cities across 9 of our European markets; 52 million marketable homes passed with Gigabit speeds
- Reaffirming FY21 free cash flow guidance of at least €5 billion (pre-spectrum and restructuring) and adjusted EBITDA expected to be between €14.4 – €14.6 billion
| Financial results | Page | H1 FY21 €m | H1 FY20 €m | Change (%) |
| Group revenue | 33 | 21,427 | 21,939 | (2.3) |
| Operating profit | 33 | 3,472 | 577 | n/m |
| Profit/(loss) for the financial period | 33 | 1,555 | (1,891) | n/m |
| Basic earnings/(loss) per share | 33 | 4.45c | (7.24c) | n/m |
| Interim dividend per share | 44 | 4.50c | 4.50c | n/m |
| Alternative performance measures1 | ||||
| Group service revenue | 13 | 18,418 | 18,544 | (0.8)* |
| Adjusted EBITDA | 13 | 7,023 | 7,105 | (1.9)* |
| Adjusted earnings per share | 24 | 4.11c | 0.85c | +383.5 |
| Free cash flow (pre-spectrum and restructuring) | 25 | 451 | 394 | +14.5 |
| Free cash flow | 25 | (101) | 34 | n/m |
| Net debt** | 25 | (43,983) | (48,107) | +8.6 |
| Net debt to adjusted EBITDA** | 27 | 3.0x | n/m | n/m |
| Pre-tax ROCE (controlled) | 28 | 5.1% | n/a | n/a |
| Post-tax ROCE | 28 | 4.0% | n/a | n/a |
- Group revenue declined by 2.3% to €21.4 billion, as good underlying momentum was offset by the effects of COVID-19 on roaming and visitor revenue, as well as lower handset sales
- Adjusted EBITDA declined by 1.9%* to €7.0 billion as the decline in revenue was partially offset by good cost control with net Europe opex savings of €0.3 billion realised during H1
- Interim dividend per share of 4.50 eurocents, record date 18 December 2020
Nick Read, Group Chief Executive, commented:
“Today’s results underline increased confidence in our full year outlook. We are reporting a resilient first half performance and we continue to see good commercial momentum across the Group. The results demonstrate the success of our strategic priorities to date, namely increasing customer loyalty, growing our fixed broadband base, driving digitisation to simplify the company and capture significant cost savings, and deliver 5G efficiently through network sharing. COVID-19 and the reduction in roaming revenues, through the significant reduction in international travel, is currently obscuring our underlying commercial progress, with Q2 service revenue growing by 1.5% excluding roaming. We are now two years into our longer-term strategy to transform Vodafone into a business that enables a digital society, generating both sustainable growth and attractive returns. We are executing at pace, but there remains more to be done to achieve our goals. Now, more than ever, the connectivity services we provide are critical for society and the demand is growing for our services. I am proud of how our dedicated employees have worked tirelessly around the clock to keep everyone connected.”
Notes
1. See page 56 for the reconciliation to the closest equivalent GAAP measure.
All amounts in this document marked with an “*” represent organic growth, which presents performance on a comparable basis, both in terms of merger and acquisition activity and movements in foreign exchange rates. Organic growth is an alternative performance measure. See “Alternative performance measures” on page 54 for further details and page 56 for the location of the reconciliation to the respective closest equivalent GAAP measure.
Net debt at 30 September 2020 marked with a “**” has been adjusted to exclude derivative gains in cash flow hedge reserves, the corresponding losses for which are not recognised on the bonds within net debt and which have significantly increased due to COVID-19 related market conditions. The ratio of net debt to adjusted EBITDA is calculated using adjusted EBITDA for a rolling 12 month period, normalised for acquisitions and disposals within the period.
For further information, please contact:
Investor Relations
Investors.vodafone.com
ir@vodafone.co.uk
Media Relations
Vodafone.com/media/contact
GroupMedia@vodafone.com
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