Vodafone lifts revenue and profit in first quarter and raises full-year targets

Raised full-year outlook after strong quarter

Along with the figures, Vodafone revised its full-year outlook upward. For fiscal 2026/27, management now expects adjusted EBITDAaL of 13.0 to 13.3 billion euros. The previous range had been 11.9 to 12.2 billion euros. Expectations for operating group profit were also lifted. Adjusted free cash flow is still expected to reach 2.6 to 2.9 billion euros.

According to Della Valle, the revised outlook also includes effects from the majority takeover of African mobile operator Safaricom. Vodafone had increased its stake in Safaricom to around 55 percent; the increase cost 1.6 billion US dollars, or roughly 1.4 billion euros. The segment also reflects the effects of the merger of the UK business with Three UK as well as an acquisition in Africa, which provided tailwinds for the group.

Africa business as an additional driver

In Germany – the group's most important European market – the subsidiary also returned to growth after a weak prior quarter. Organic service revenue grew domestically by 1.2 percent to 2.74 billion euros. In the mobile business, however, developments were subdued: the number of German contract customers fell in the first quarter by 85,000 to around 28.7 million. In the previous quarter, the decline had been 77,000.

Germany: revenues grow, customer base shrinks

According to the company, the customer decline in the German contract business was driven by the wholesale partner segment, while the main Vodafone brand as well as the sub-brands SimOn and Otelo stabilized. In broadband connections, the customer base shrank by 98,000 to about 9.8 million, after a decline of 90,000 had already been recorded in the previous quarter. Vodafone Germany also saw a decline in its TV business.

In mobile, service revenue in Germany grew less strongly than in other segments; fixed-network revenues, on the other hand, rose compared to the fourth quarter, thanks to higher revenues from cloud and security services for business customers. The company had also scaled back part of its promotional discounts and, on average, pushed through price increases for new customers rather than fully participating in the market's price war. In addition, twelve million mobile customers of competitor 1&1 migrated from the O2 network to the Vodafone network.

Analysts remain confident

The news triggered a clear gain on the market: Vodafone shares listed in Frankfurt rose by around three percent in early trading, and at the time of reporting a price gain of four percent was recorded. Deutsche Bank Research confirmed its buy recommendation, which it had renewed on 13 July 2026. Analyst Robert Grindle spoke of a positive surprise in organic service revenue growth across all markets except Turkey and described the pre-emptive raising of the full-year targets to the upper end of the range as encouraging. Berenberg also rated the stock "Buy" on 10 July 2026.

The group remains well positioned with its diversified portfolio – from European fixed-network and mobile markets, to the UK joint venture, to the Africa business – to continue profitable growth over the remainder of the year, according to company circles. With the higher full-year target and the effects already realized from the Safaricom stake as well as the UK consolidation, management considers itself well equipped for the coming quarters.

Overall, the financial report underscores that Vodafone has for now put the dry spell of the past months behind it. While the German consumer business remains under competitive pressure, the corporate and wholesale business as well as the acquisition activities in the UK and Africa partly offset this. In the coming weeks, observers will pay particular attention to the further development of contract customer numbers in Germany and margin trends in the fixed network.