Vodafone Optimistic After Growth In H1 Profits

Mobile phone operator Vodafone has today spoken as to its optimism for the remainder of the year, following strong financial results over the first half year of 2007 which pointed to an improving outlook for the global network operator.

The group today announced that it had revised upwards its profitability forecasts for the year end as a result of its strong performance thus far, boosting the value of its shares in trade over the course of today.

The international phone operator announced today a pre-tax profit figure of around $9 billion for the six month period ended September, up strongly from their $6 billion loss of the same period a year ago, reflecting the significance of the turnaround made by the company in what has been a relatively short period of time.

As a result the company has realigned its forecast results for the full year to $70 billion in revenue terms, which would be a strong improvement on top level sales reported in previous years, even on a index-adjusted basis.

Much of the improved performance has been derived from its western European operations, particularly in the UK and Spain which helped overcome the negative impact of red-tape and regulation from authorities in other European markets.

Additionally its foothold in the emerging Asian markets also helped strong overall profit figures, particularly in Turkey and India which had an overall positive impact on non-EU sales to the tune of 40% of overall revenues. Revenues for the period overall were up to $35 billion, which the company has predicted will be replicated over the latter six months of the year.

Ordinary interim dividends were declared by the company today following the news, reflecting a growth of 6% on the previous period up to £2.49 a share to match its strong performance over the first six months.

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