Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Vodafone hit by foreign exchange movements; Proximus tests 5G with Huawei; Ericsson predicts the 5G future.
Vodafone Group plc (NYSE: VOD) is attempting to derail BT Group plc (NYSE: BT; London: BTA)'s G.fast strategy by complaining to Ofcom that BT's trials of the copper-boosting technology breach the UK regulator's guidelines on network investment, the Financial Times reports (subscription required). The mobile giant is calling for a consultation on the matter, a move that would potentially allow Vodafone and others to halt BT's plans, which they view as an unsatisfactory "halfway house" compromise that falls short of a full-fat fiber-based network upgrade.
Vodafone's letter of complaint to Ofcom coincides with the release of its half-year earnings statement, which shows group revenue down 3.9% year-on-year to €27.05 billion (US$29.12 billion) and an operating loss of €4.7 billion ($5.06 billion), attributed chiefly to foreign exchange movements. The group took a major hit at its Indian operation, which recorded a non-cash impairment of €5 billion ($5.38 billion) as a result of increased competition affecting its projected cash flows. Discounting the effect of currency movements, EBITDA increased by 4.3% to €7.9 billion ($8.5 billion).
Table 1: Vodafone's H1 (€M)
|
2016 |
2015 |
Growth % (reported) |
Growth % (organic) |
| Group revenue |
27,054 |
28,151 |
-3.9 |
|
| Regional revenue |
|
|
|
|
| Europe |
17,543 |
18,240 |
-3.8 |
|
| AMAP |
8,896 |
9,184 |
-3.1 |
|
| Operating loss/profit |
-4,702 |
1,115 |
n/a |
|
| Loss for the financial period |
-5,003 |
-2,344 |
n/a |
|
| Basic loss per share |
(18.38c) |
(9.43c) |
n/a |
|
| Interim dividend per share |
4.74c |
4.65c |
1.9 |
|
| Alternative performance measures |
|
|
|
|
| Group service revenue |
24,805 |
25,601 |
-3.1 |
2.3 |
| Europe |
16,319 |
16,813 |
-2.9 |
0.6 |
| AMAP |
7,991 |
8,181 |
-2.3 |
7.4 |
| EBITDA |
7,906 |
8,039 |
-1.7 |
4.3 |
| Adjusted operating profit |
2,283 |
2,281 |
0.1 |
11.4 |
| Adjusted earnings per share |
3.08c |
3.50c |
-12 |
|
| Free cash flow |
15 |
-756 |
n/a |
|
Belgium's Proximus claims it has achieved speeds of up to 70 Gbit/s in tests of 5G technology with Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. In the run-up to the introduction of 5G proper, Proximus says it will roll out "4.5G" in a number of places in 2017, offering peak speeds of 450 Mbit/s.
And talking of 5G, Ericsson AB (Nasdaq: ERIC)'s latest Mobility Report predicts that by 2022 95% of mobile subscriptions in western Europe will be 4G- and 5G-based, though North America will lead the way with 550 million 5G subscriptions by the same year.
UK broadband and pay-TV provider TalkTalk appears to be back on track after its cybersecurity nightmare of a year or so ago when a substantial number of its customers reported that their bank accounts had been accessed after a cyber attack, and its share price plummeted as a result. In its latest half-year results, TalkTalk reports a 44% year-on-year growth in EBITDA to £130 million ($161.3 million), though revenue was actually down 1.1% to £902 million ($1.11 billion). (See TalkTalk Plummets on Security Woes.)
BT is targeting the enterprise with a couple of new launches. BT One Cloud Mobile is, as the name suggest, a cloud-based service that BT says allows those on the move secure access to the same collaboration tools as their office-bound colleagues, available on a "pay-per-user-per-month" basis. BT One Mobile Anywhere is based on a single EE SIM card and is intended to help organizations manage roaming costs clocked up by those on their payroll who are using data abroad for business purposes.
— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading
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