Southern Europe continues to be a problem for Vodafone, which reported a net loss of £1.88 billion (US$2.98 billion) in its first-half results. An impairment charge of £5.9 billion ($9.37 billion) related to its struggling operations in Italy and Spain dragged the operator's numbers down, though emerging markets provided some grounds for optimism, with 11 percent growth in India and 18 percent growth in Turkey providing a couple of highlights. (See Vodafone Posts H1 Loss of £1.88B, Euronews: Vodafone Profits Slip as Europe Suffers and Euronews: Vodafone Suffers in Southern Europe.)
Vodafone's South African unit, Vodacom Pty. Ltd., is looking to make acquisitions in sub-Saharan Africa, reports Reuters. Vodacom wants to make up ground on MTN Group Ltd., which, outside South Africa, reigns supreme on the continent.
Also on the make in Africa is Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., which tells Bloomberg that it predicts a 30 percent rise in revenues from southern and eastern Africa during the next three years as mobile penetration grows.
U.K. broadband provider TalkTalk saw first-half revenues fall 1.89 percent year-on-year to £828 million ($1.31 billion), although core earnings were up 6.2 percent to £155 million ($246 million). The company has high hopes for its recently launched YouView-based TV offer, for which it has secured 29,000 customers to date. (See TalkTalk Sees Revenue Slip to £828M in H1.)
Naguib Sawiris's plan to take a minority stake in Telecom Italia SpA for around €2 billion euros ($2.5 billion) is unlikely to go down well with the group of controlling shareholders led by Telefónica SA, reports Bloomberg.
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