By Stuart Thomson
Vodafone lost significant numbers of TV customers in Germany and Spain in its fiscal first half to the end of September, with 101,000 TV customers lost in Germany and 38,000 lost in Spain.
The operator blamed fewer gross customer additions due to COVID in Germany, but pointed to accelerated convergence penetration, with its German converged customer base rising by 330,000 to almost two million.
Vodafone Deutschland now has 13.38 million TV customers, with most of the losses in the first half occurring in the first quarter to the end of June.
Overall in Germany, Vodafone added 86,000 cable customers during the period, including 38,000 migrations from legacy DSL broadband.
In Spain, TV losses, which mostly occurred in the second quarter, were primarily attributed to the end of a promotional period. The operator’s Spanish broadband base declined by 82,000 over the same period. Vodafone Spain now has 1.6 million TV customers and 3.1 million fixed broadband customers.
On the upside, Vodafone pointed to its recent exclusive agreement to stream HBO Max, and its strong partnerships with other content providers such as Disney.
Elsewhere, Vodafone lost 3,000 TV customers in Italy, ending the half with 299,000. It gained 1,000 in Portugal, ending with 780,000.
Overall, Vodafone had 22.2 million TV customers across its European markets at the end of its first half, down from 22.3 million a year earlier. Vodafone has 18.5 million TV customers across its wholly owned units and 3.788 million via its VodafoneZiggo JV in the Netherlands.
Overall, Vodafone posted revenues of €22.5 billion(US$25.5billion), up 5 per cent, and EBITDAaL of €7 billion, up 6.5 per cent.
“The results show we have demonstrated good sustainable growth and solid commercial momentum. Our strengthened performance in Africa and Europe puts us on track to be at the top end of our guidance for this year, as well as firmly within our medium-term financial ambitions. We know there is more to do and our focus remains on driving growth. We are structured for value creation, with operational priorities and portfolio actions which are designed to improve returns at pace,” said CEO Nick Read.
