PTI
London, Jul 22: British telecom giant Vodafone on Tuesday posted a 19.1 per cent jump in revenues at 9.8 billion pounds for the quarter ended June 30, propelled by strong growth in India and Europe, among other regions.
During the three months ended June, the company added 8.5 million subscribers across the world and the total stood at 269 million.
The firm registered more than 50 per cent total revenue growth in India.
However, Vodafone's India-born chief executive Arun Sarin who will stepping down later this month said the company faced a more challenging environment.
"Notwithstanding this more challenging operating environment, we continue to benefit from a diversity of assets and services, with strong revenue growth in EMAPA (Eastern Europe, Middle East, Africa & Asia, Pacific) and another good quarter of data revenue growth offsetting weakness in Spain.
Whilst we expect revenue around the bottom of the outlook range, our continued focus on cost reduction enables us to reiterate our operating profit and cash flow guidance for the year," Sarin said in a statement.
In the June quarter, India accounted for most of the increase in subscribers in the EMAPA region which saw the addition of 7.8 million new customers.
"India accounted for most of the increase, adding 5.1 million customers in the quarter. The total customer base in the region reached 122.6 million and included 49.2 million customers in India, making it the largest subsidiary by customers within the Vodafone Group," the statement said.
Further, Vodafone has estimated revenues for the current fiscal year to be on the lower end of the projections.
"Revenue now expected to be around the bottom of the 39.8 billion pounds to 40.7 billion pounds outlook range reflecting first quarter performance, recent economic weakness and lower than expected equipment revenue," the telecom major noted.
Following the warning that the topline would be hit by economic slowdown, shares of Vodafone plunged as much as 12 per cent on the London Stock Exchange. In early morning trade, the scrip was trading at 130.25 pence, down 12.73 per cent. Sarin would be replaced by his deputy Vittorio Colao.