VOD Vodafone Group Plc

By Adria Calatayud

Vodafone Group PLC (VOD.LN) said Tuesday that organic earnings rose in the first half and it set out new cost-savings targets, but it froze the interim dividend while it works to reduce debt.

The British telecommunications company swung to an operating loss of 2.07 billion euros ($2.33 billion) for the six months ended Sept. 30, compared with a EUR2.01 billion profit in the year-earlier half. This was primarily due to a loss on the disposal of Vodafone India, the company said.

Organic adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization--the company's preferred profit measure--was up 2.9% at EUR7.08 billion, Vodafone said. The company narrowed its guidance for growth in organic adjusted Ebitda for its year ending March 31 to 3%, from between 1% and 5% previously.

Revenue for the first half declined 5.5% to EUR21.80 billion, Vodafone said. Organic service revenue--a figure which is closely watched by analysts--rose 0.8%.

The board said it would maintain its interim dividend at 4.84 European cents a share year, and it also intends to keep its full-year dividend at 15.07 European cents a share. The company said it will consider increasing the dividend in the long-term as it reduces leverage.

Chief Executive Nick Read said the company plans to lower its European net operating expenses by at least EUR1.2 billion by fiscal 2021. The company also intends to create a virtual internal tower company across its European operations, and it is reviewing strategic options for those assets.

Write to Adria Calatayud at adria.calatayudvaello@dowjones.com and Adam Clark at adam.clark@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 13, 2018 02:44 ET (07:44 GMT)

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