Vodafone has reported a rise in sales over the first quarter as price increases helped to offset weaker trading in Germany.
The telecoms giant said total revenues rose by 1.6pc over the three-month period, with service revenues up 2.5pc.
Germany – its largest market – suffered a 0.5pc fall in service revenue, with its TV customer base dropping by 79,000, while it also suffered a 34,000 decline across its broadband service.
But this was countered as growth picked up pace across the UK, where it saw service revenues jump by 6.5pc, up from growth of 2pc in the previous three months.
Vodafone said the UK improvement was partly driven by annual price increases, but insisted it did not see a “material” rise in customers quitting the group while it added 18,000 contract customers in the quarter.
Nick Read, chief executive of Vodafone, said:
Whilst we are not immune to the current macroeconomic challenges, we’re on track to deliver financial results for the year in line with our guidance.
Our near-term focus on our operational and portfolio priorities remains unchanged.
We’ve made good progress towards stabilising our commercial performance in Germany, and we continue to actively pursue opportunities with Vantage Towers and to strengthen our market positions in Europe.
