Vodafone India posts 17.7% increase in sales for Q3

Rs 9,364 crore revenue during the quarter ended December, the revenue grew the most across all markets of Vodafone Group

Vodafone India has posted an 18 per cent rise in its revenue, the highest growth rate across all markets of Vodafone Group, with £1.1 billion (about Rs 9,364 crore) during the quarter ended December.

The company had reported £937 million (Rs 8,774 crore) revenue in the year-ago period.

After India, Vodafone Group saw the highest revenue growth of 17.3 per cent in Spain at £924 million during the quarter under review from £788 million a year ago.

Vodafone Group's revenue increased 13.5 per cent to £10.9 billion.

“We have achieved another quarter of improving revenue trends in most of our major markets. Growth in India has accelerated again, driven by data,” said Vittorio Colao, chief executive, Vodafone Group.

The company closed the quarter with a customer base of 178.7 million.

Vodafone India's data revenue continued to grow strongly, with mobile internet revenue rising 70 per cent. This was supported by a 30 per cent expansion in data customers to 59 million, of which 16.6 million were third-generation (3G) customers, the company said.

There was a 40 per cent growth in average data usage per customer in India, while voice rates per minute remained flat, with average minutes of use down 6.6 per cent.

“We continue to make good progress on Project Spring (a global investment plan to enhance its network), with 5,500 radio sites added in the quarter, taking our 3G outdoor coverage in targeted urban areas to 90 per cent," the company said.

Vodafone India, which has applied for a payment bank licence, saw its mobile payment service closing the quarter with 337,000 active customers, generating 78,000 transactions a day.