Finance
Vodafone on track for top-end profit though shares slip on German recovery
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 5, 2026
2 min readLast updated: February 5, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 5, 2026
2 min readLast updated: February 5, 2026
Vodafone reports strong growth in Germany, Turkey, and Africa, boosting its profit outlook for the year. The company expects earnings at the upper end of its guidance.
By Paul Sandle
LONDON, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Mobile group Vodafone said a strong performance in Turkey and Africa kept it on track to meet its earnings guidance, but doubts about the strength and speed of the recovery in one of its biggest markets, Germany, hit its shares.
The company, whose stock has risen 73% in the last 12 months, said a 6.5% rise in group revenue and a 2.3% rise in core earnings in the third quarter underpinned its forecast for full-year profit to come in at the top of its guidance.
Its shares, however, fell more than 5% in morning deals as analysts said 0.7% top-line growth in Germany, its second positive quarter in a row, came in slightly below expectations, according to Berenberg analysts.
Chief Executive Margherita Della Valle told reporters she was pleased with the progress the company was making in Germany, Europe's biggest market, in a competitive environment.
"Every quarter customer experience goes one step higher, and this is across all our products," she said. "But the market remains competitive, and we will see as we go along into the next quarter how this part will evolve."
Britain, Vodafone's other big European market, saw service revenue decline 0.5%, reflecting a prior-year one-off revenue hit previously flagged. Della Valle said the integration of Three, the mobile network it merged with last year, was making very good progress.
"We expect to see good growth this year, and we're really excited about the opportunity arising from the merger," she said.
Vodafone reiterated its view that adjusted core earnings and free cash flow for the year to end-March would come in at the upper end of its guidance of 11.3 billion to 11.6 billion euros and 2.4 billion to 2.6 billion euros, respectively.
It also said it would start its next 500 million euro share buyback, after completing 3.5 billion euros since May 2024.
($1 = 0.8475 euros)
(Reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by Kate Holton and Elaine Hardcastle)
The main topic is Vodafone's reported growth in Germany, Turkey, and Africa, which supports its profit guidance for the year.
Vodafone reports top-line growth in Germany, contributing significantly to its positive profit outlook.
Germany, Turkey, and Africa are key regions contributing to Vodafone's growth and profit outlook.
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