Vodafone on Tuesday reported a 4.2 per cent fall in organic service revenue which was on expected lines with Southern Europe witnessing the steepest fall.

Core earnings fell -3.1% at £13.3 billion; organic EBITDA margin declined -0.1 percentage points excluding restructuring costs.

Vittorio Colao, Group Chief Executive, said, we have faced headwinds from a combination of continued tough economic conditions, particularly in Southern Europe, and an adverse European regulatory environment.

The group also took a 1.8 billion pounds impairment charge on its businesses in Spain and Italy, taking the total writedowns on those two countries for the year to 7.7 billion pounds.

"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", he added. 

Its adjusted operating profit however was above guidance, up 9.3 per cent to 12 billion pounds due to the strong performance in the United States, where it owns 45 per cent of Verizon Wireless.

Its US arm Verizon Wireless service revenue rose 8.1%; its share of profits up 30.5% to £6.4 billion

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