Britain's Vodafone has reported a 6.1 billion euro annual loss but forecasts a jump in the amount of cash it will generate this financial year.
There was mixed news from British mobile phone operator Vodafone on Tuesday
It reported a 6.1 billion euro loss for the year to the end of March but at the same time forecast a jump in the amount of cash it will generate this financial year.
Chief Executive Vittorio Colao said earnings would grow by between 4 and 8 percent this year to 14-14.5 billion euros – analysts had forecast 13.8 billion euros – and it would generate about 5 billion euros of cash, up from 4.1 billion euros last year.
Reduced costs and slowing investment programmes on its networks in Europe and other markets mean the company will be able to pay higher dividends to its shareholders. Consequently the shares rose 3.8 percent.
•Sustained organic revenue growth +1.9% year on year: Europe +0.6%; AMAP +7.7%.
— Vodafone Group (@VodafoneGroup) May 16, 2017
Last year’s losses were mostly from a huge write-down on the value of Vodafone India where it is anticipated revenue will remain under pressure amid a fierce price war.
Vodafone agreed in March to combine its Indian operations with Idea Cellular with the intention of creating the country’s biggest telecoms business.