Vodafone upgraded its profit and cash flow guidance on 8 October, having said in July it expected the upper end of a €13.0bn to €13.3bn profit range.
Margherita Della Valle, group chief executive, said: “Today, we are upgrading our guidance for both profit and cash flow for the year.” The company said it was on track to deliver at the upper end of its guidance range for both measures.
The ranges were reset in July to include Safaricom, the Kenyan operator Vodafone has consolidated since 1 July.
They cover Adjusted EBITDAaL (earnings after lease costs, before interest, tax and depreciation of owned assets) of €13.0bn to €13.3bn and adjusted free cash flow of €2.6bn to €2.9bn, according to the first-quarter update.
Safaricom adds €1.1bn to Adjusted EBITDAaL on a nine-month basis and nothing to adjusted free cash flow, the company said at the time.
The upgrade came with results for the six months ended 30 September 2026.
In the first quarter, organic service revenue rose 5.2% and organic Adjusted EBITDAaL rose 6.2%. Total revenue increased 9.7% to €10.3bn, helped by the consolidation of Three UK.
Cost cutting is part of the picture. Across Europe and Shared Operations, Vodafone said its initiatives delivered over 1,200 new role reductions in the quarter to June, and that both were on track for material net operating cost reductions by the year end.
Restructuring and integration costs in the current financial year are expected to peak at about €0.7bn, the company said. That includes about €0.4bn linked to the VodafoneThree merger of its UK business with Three UK.
Over the longer term, Vodafone has set out €2bn of gross efficiency and synergy potential and a €1bn net opportunity to cut European operating costs between the 2027 and 2030 financial years.
The majority of previously disclosed UK cost and capital spending synergies of £700m is expected to be operating cost savings.
Della Valle said the group had “delivered good strategic progress in the half year”, including a fast start in integrating the Vodafone and Three networks in the UK.
In May, Vodafone agreed a £4.3bn (€4.9bn) buyout of CK Hutchison’s stake in the VodafoneThree joint venture, which would make it sole owner. Group operating profit in the first quarter rose €2.9bn to €3.9bn, mainly because of a €3.0bn gain on the Safaricom deal.
Della Valle said: “After the transformation of the last three years, we are now a simpler company with a stronger growth outlook.”
