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☆ Vodafone takes 'first steps' in turnaround with top-line improvement
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( Paul Sandle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, July 24 (Reuters) - Vodafone (VOD.L) reported better top-line growth on Monday, driven by higher prices in Britain and improvements in Germany, Italy and Spain, marking a positive start for new Chief Executive Margherita Della Valle's turnaround plan. She said on Monday that organic service revenue had improved "across almost all of our markets", as it reported a 3.7% first-quarter rise. The decline in service revenue in Germany more than halved quarter-on-quarter to 1.3%, as price rises partially offset the impact of customer losses over the last 18 months. Growth in service revenue in Britain, where Vodafone announced the merger of its operation with Hutchison's rival network Three last month, accelerated to 5.7%, boosted by strong growth in consumer and price increases. In Italy, improved demand from businesses helped reduce the service revenue decline to 1.6%, from 2.7% in the previous quarter, it said, while Spain saw a smaller improvement to a decline of 3.0% from 3.7%.

Persons: Margherita Della Valle's, Luka Mucic, Della Valle, We've, Ahmed Essam, Paul Sandle, Kate Holton, Sharon Singleton Organizations: Vodafone, SAP, Thomson Locations: Britain, Germany, Italy, Spain

☆ Factbox: Vodafone, Hutchison UK merger to create country's largest mobile operator
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 14 (Reuters) - Vodafone (VOD.L) and CK Hutchison (0001.HK) unveiled the merger of their British operations, creating the country's largest mobile operator. Hutchison will own 49% and Vodafone 51% of the combined group, which will be led by current Vodafone UK boss Ahmed Essam. REVENUEUK represented 14% of group service revenue for Vodafone, and 16% of total revenue for Hutchison, according to latest annual results. RETAIL STORESThree has 311 retail stores in UK, according to its website, while Vodafone UK had 410 stores as of January. SPECTRUMVodafone has spectrum access between 3720-3760 MHz, while Three UK has access between 3460-3480 MHz, according to British telecoms regulator Ofcom.

Persons: CK Hutchison, Hutchison, Ahmed Essam, Eva Mathews Organizations: Vodafone, CK, HK, Hutchison, Ofcom, BT Group, O2, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

Vodafone and CK Hutchison, which owns the Three UK mobile network, agreed to merge their U.K. businesses, following talks that have been ongoing since last year, the companies said Wednesday. Vodafone will own 51% of the combined business, leaving CK Hutchison the minority stake. "This long-awaited mega merger represents the biggest shake-up in the UK mobile market for over a decade," Kester Mann, director for consumer and connectivity at CCS Insight said in emailed comments. Current Vodafone UK CEO Ahmed Essam will lead the new enterprise, while the present Three UK Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Darren Purkis will assume the CFO position at the merged business. BT acquired EE in 2016, while Telefonica and Liberty Global launched Virgin Media O2 in 2021.

Persons: CK Hutchison, Kester Mann, Ahmed Essam, Darren Purkis, Nick Read, Margherita Della Valle Organizations: Vodafone, CK, CK Hutchison, Insight, BT, Virgin Media O2, EE, O2, Telefonica, Liberty Global, Markets Authority, CMA, Activision Blizzard

Under the terms, Vodafone will own 51% and Hutchison 49% of the combined group, which will be led by current Vodafone UK boss Ahmed Essam. The finance chief of Hutchison's Three UK, Darren Purkis, will take the same role in the new group. The combined operator will have about 27 million customers, overtaking BT's (BT.L) EE and VM O2, jointly owned by Telefonica (TEF.MC) and Liberty Global (LBTYA.O). Vodafone, which is currently Britain's third-biggest mobile operator, and fourth-placed Hutchison will have options which would allow Vodafone to acquire the Hong Kong-based conglomerate's 49% stake in the future. Shares in Vodafone, which fell to a 25-year low of 71 pence on Tuesday, rose 3.6% after the deal was announced.

Persons: CK Hutchison, Canning Fok, Ahmed Essam, Darren Purkis, Hutchison, Vodafone's Essam, Robert Finnegan, Gail Cartmail, Paul Sandle, Clare Jim, Kate Holton, Sharon Singleton, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: Vodafone, CK, HK, Hutchison, Hutchison's, BT's, VM O2, Telefonica, Liberty Global, Britain's Competition, Markets Authority, CMA, Unite, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG, Britain, Hong Kong, China, London

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