OREANDA-NEWS. Group revenue down -4.2% to GBP 44.4 billion; full year organic service revenue decline -1.9%; Q4 -4.2%
EBITDA down -3.1% at GBP 13.3 billion; organic EBITDA margin down -0.1 percentage points excluding restructuring costs
Verizon Wireless (‘VZW’) service revenue up 8.1%; our share of profits up 30.5% to GBP 6.4 billion
Adjusted operating profit above guidance, up 9.3% at GBP 12.0 billion; adjusted EPS +5.0% at 15.65p
H2 impairment charge of GBP 1.8 billion, giving a full year total of GBP 7.7 billion in Italy and Spain
Free cash flow towards the higher end of guidance at GBP 5.6 billion after capital additions of GBP 6.3 billion
Final dividend per share of 6.92 pence, giving total dividends per share of 10.19 pence, up 7.0%
Further good progress on data: organic revenue growth 13.8%; European contract smartphone penetration 54.8%, up 9.9 percentage points year-on-year
Vodafone Red now in 14 markets; 4.1 million customers as at 12 May 2013; 67.1% of consumer contract revenue in our European markets from integrated plans in Q4
Unified communications strategy accelerated: acquisitions of Cable & Wireless Worldwide (‘CWW’) and TelstraClear; fibre deployment planned in Spain and Portugal; wholesale access agreement in Germany
VZW dividend: GBP 2.4 billion dividend received in December 2012; GBP 2.1 billion due in June 2013, to be retained in the business
Aiming to reach ten million Vodafone Red customers by March 2014, and to extend our 3G footprint at 43.2 Mbps and LTE coverage across our five major European markets to around 80% and 40% respectively by March 2015

Guidance for the 2014 financial year
Adjusted operating profit in the range of GBP 12.0 billion to GBP 12.8 billion.
Free cash flow of around GBP 7.0 billion, including the GBP 2.1 billion VZW dividend to be received in June 2013.

Vittorio Colao, Group Chief Executive, commented:

“Thanks to further strong progress this year in our key areas of strategic focus − data, enterprise and emerging markets − and an excellent performance from VZW, we have achieved good growth in adjusted operating profit and adjusted earnings per share. However, we have faced headwinds from a combination of continued tough economic conditions, particularly in Southern Europe, and an adverse European regulatory environment.

“I remain very excited about our longer term prospects, as customer appetite for high speed data grows rapidly, and companies look to embed mobility into their corporate strategies. The launch of Vodafone Red has been very successful, providing a solid underpinning for future revenue as customers take advantage of the best of the Vodafone experience. Our new targets for high speed mobile network coverage, announced today, combined with our growing capabilities in next generation fixed line access, strengthen our Vodafone 2015 strategy.

“With the announcement of today’s 7% increase, the ordinary dividend per share has grown over 22% in the last three years. The Board remains focused on balancing ongoing shareholder remuneration with the long-term investment needs of the business, and going forward aims at least to maintain the ordinary dividend per share at current levels.”