LONDON (Reuters) -Mobile operator Vodafone reported a 1.2% drop in full-year adjusted earnings, coming in at the bottom of its guidance and missing market expectations, but forecast growth this year.
The company posted adjusted EBITDA (earnings before tax, interest, depreciation and amortization) of 14.4 billion euros on revenue of 43.8 billion euros, down 2.6%, for the year.
Chief Executive Nick Read said Vodafone exited the year with accelerating service revenue growth across its business, with a particularly good performance in its largest market, Germany.
“The increased demand for our services supports our ambition to grow revenues and cash flow over the medium-term,” he said.
Read has focused Vodafone on markets in Europe and Africa and has spun off its mobile towers infrastructure into a separate business that it listed in Frankfurt in March.
He said the next phase of his strategy would focus on driving shareholder returns through deleveraging, improving the return on capital, and committing to its dividend.
The company said it expected EBITDA for the current year to rise to 15.0 – 15.4 billion euros, with adjusted free cash flow of at least 5.2 billion euros.
(Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by William James and Kate Holton)
