World's largest mobile operator by sales Vodafone Group Plc has posted a 15.8 per cent rise in revenues for third quarter of the current fiscal, boosted by a strong performance in emerging markets including India. The group earned revenues of £9.2 billion in the quarter, it said in a filing to the London Stock Exchange.
In India, the group recorded a 56 per cent growth in revenues -- highest among emerging markets -- for the quarter ended December, following the acquisition of a majority stake in the country's mobile phone operator Hutchison Essar last year. The growth in these markets was primarily driven by the addition of higher number of customers.
India accounted for most of the increase, with Vodafone Essar adding 4.2 million customers during the quarter, a 71 per cent jump year on year. Vodafone Essar had a total customer base of 39.9 million, making it the largest operator by customers within the Vodafone Group, the filing added.
In May last year, Vodafone had acquired a 52 per cent stake in India's Hutchison Essar Ltd for about $11 billion. Among the emerging markets, India posted the highest growth of 56 per cent in revenue (assuming the group owned the business for whole of both quarters), followed by Egypt (30.7 per cent), Kenya (30.1 per cent) and Turkey (26 per cent).
"We have sustained our recent momentum in the third quarter, executing on our strategic objectives in competitive markets, with over 250 million proportionate customers driving strong growth in voice usage and data revenue," the group said.
"We are also maintaining our rigorous focus on costs across the group, positioning us well to sustain our progress. We are reiterating our current year outlook," Vodafone Chief Executive of Arun Sarin said.
The net impact of acquisitions and disposals, principally India and Turkey, contributed 6.6 percentage points to revenue growth, the filing added. During the quarter, Vodafone Essar also announced a five-year agreement with IBM India to outsource management of its entire back-office IT operations to boost efficiency and to further enhance its service to customers.
In December 2007, Vodafone Essar Ltd, Bharti Infratel and Idea Cellular Limited announced the formation of an independent tower company, Indus Towers Limited, to provide passive infrastructure services. Vodafone Essar would own 42 per cent of the company that would operate in 16 circles in India. The initiative is expected to accelerate the expansion of coverage, particularly into rural areas, and improve network coverage to the benefit of the Indian consumers. It will also enable the shareholders and other telecom operators to drive economies of scale, the filing said.