Vodafone Turns To Net Profit In H1, Adj. EBITDA Down; Warns On FY21 Adj. EBITDA

(RTTNews) - British telecom major Vodafone Group Plc (VOD, VOD.L) Monday reported that its first-half profit was 1.56 billion euros, compared to last year's loss of 1.89 billion euros.

Basic earnings per share were 4.45 cents, compared to loss of 7.24 cents a year ago.

Adjusted earnings per share were 4.11 cents, compared to last year's 0.85 cents.

Operating profit surged to 3.47 billion euros from prior year's 577 million euros.

Adjusted EBITDA was 7.02 billion euros, down 1.9 percent from 7.11 billion euros, despite good cost control.

Group revenue dropped 2.3 percent to 21.43 billion euros from last year's 21.94 billion euros, as good underlying momentum was offset by the effects of COVID-19 on roaming and visitor revenue, as well as lower handset sales.

In the second quarter, Revenue declined to 10.92 billion euros from 11.29 billion euros a year ago.

Further, the company announced interim dividend per share of 4.50 cents, same as last year.

Looking ahead, for fiscal 2021, adjusted EBITDA is expected to be between 14.4 billion euros and 14.6 billion euros. The company previously expected adjusted EBITDA at 'flat to slightly down'.

Adjusted EBITDA in the year 2020 was 14.9 billion euros.

Further, the company reaffirmed free cash flow guidance of at least 5 billion euros (pre-spectrum and restructuring).