Key Performance Indicators
Vodafone Group PLC
25 April 2002
25 April 2002
CUSTOMER GROWTH EXCEEDED 20% FOR THE YEAR; ARPU LEVELS SUSTAINED; IMPROVED DATA
REVENUE GROWTH
Vodafone Group Plc ('Vodafone') today announces key performance indicators for
the quarter and year ended 31 March 2002. The main highlights are:
• Good customer growth of 22% in the year, resulting in over 101.1m
proportionate customers with 1.3m net additions in the last quarter
• Stable blended average revenue per user ('ARPU') trends maintained in
major European markets in the quarter and during the 12 months ended
March 2002 despite two Easter periods in the year
• Data revenue rose to over 13% of service revenues for the Group's
controlled operations in March and to over 11% for the year, an increase of
over 4% and 3% respectively on a year ago
Sir Christopher Gent, Chief Executive of Vodafone, commented: 'This year has
seen ARPU stabilise in our major markets, ahead of our previous expectations,
even though customer growth has been better than anticipated. The improvement
in mix towards higher quality customers and the continued adoption of data
services provide a solid base for an expected improvement in ARPU in most of our
major European markets in the year ahead.'
Customer Growth
Overall, 1.3 million registered proportionate customers were added in the
quarter bringing the total net additions for the year to more than 18.1 million.
Net customer growth in the quarter was held back in part by seasonal factors but
mainly due to the necessary and expected disconnection in some major European
markets of non-revenue earning handsets associated with the upgrading that
occurred in the period of very rapid customer growth in the previous financial
year. We expect the return of net customer growth in all major European markets
in the second quarter of this financial year.
The overall customer mix continues to improve following the revised commercial
policies, particularly in Germany and the UK, with contract rising from 40% to
43% of the base and 35% to 38% respectively.
Activity levels for the Group's controlled operations improved from 90% last
quarter to 92% this quarter, primarily due to the expected increase in prepaid
churn in Germany, the UK now measuring activity on an outgoing and incoming
basis and the inclusion of Japan where activity levels are over 99%. In Germany
activity improved from 90.6% to 91.2%.
Registered Blended ARPU
Registered blended ARPU trends were maintained in the Group's major markets in
the quarter. On a rolling 12 month basis, allowing for two Easters in one year,
ARPU was stable.
Data as a Percentage of Service Revenues
Data as a percentage of service revenues continues to grow on a like-for-like
basis exceeding 11% in the year to March and 13% in the month of March for the
Group's controlled operations. Improvements in data usage were recorded in all
major markets on an annual basis.
In Japan the success of 'sha-mail', the photo-messaging service, continues. This
is now used by one third of the base and contributes to the highest levels of
data adoption in the Group. Furthermore, 'movie sha-mail' has registered more
than 115,000 customers in the first month following launch.
For further information:
Vodafone Group
Tim Brown, Group Corporate Affairs Director
Melissa Stimpson, Head of Group Investor Relations
Bobby Leach, Head of Group Financial Media Relations
Darren Jones, Senior Investor Relations Manager
Tel: +44 (0) 1635 673310
Tavistock Communications
Lulu Bridges / John West
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7600 2288
Notes
Monthly and annual ARPU in Japan has been adjusted to take into account a 13%
reduction in mobile to mobile interconnect effective for the year ended 31 March
2002.
This release contains forward looking statements including statements regarding
our expectations for improvement in ARPU and future customer growth. By their
nature, forward looking statements are inherently predictive, speculative and
involve risk and uncertainty since they relate to events and depend on
circumstances that will occur in the future. Actual results could differ
materially from those expressed or implied by these forward looking statements
depending on a variety of factors including our ability to develop competitive
data content and services which will attract new customers and increase average
usage, our ability to offer new services and the delivery and performance of
GPRS and 3G handsets, network equipment and other key products from suppliers,
and the other factors set forth in our Annual Report on Form 20-F under the
headings 'Forward-looking Statements' and 'Risk Factors'.
VODAFONE GROUP PLC - MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATIONS BUSINESSES
QUARTERLY PROPORTIONATE NET CUSTOMER ADDITIONS - 1 JANUARY 2002 TO 31 MARCH 2002
CUSTOMER BASE
PERCENTAGE AT START NET STAKE AT END OF PERCENTAGE
COUNTRY OPERATOR OWNERSHIP 1 OF PERIOD ADDITIONS CHANGES 2 PERIOD PREPAID 4
(%) (thousands) (thousands) (thousands) (thousands) (%)
NORTHERN EUROPE
UK Vodafone 100.0 13,164 22 - 13,186 62
Ireland Vodafone 100.0 1,701 3 - 1,704 72
Netherlands Vodafone 70.0 2,262 27 - 2,289 64
Sweden Vodafone 71.1 788 * - * *
Others 4,946 * 1 * *
TOTAL 22,861 144 1 23,006 57
CENTRAL EUROPE
Germany Vodafone 99.7 21,824 (399) 9 21,434 57
Hungary Vodafone 59.4 283 47 - 330 91
Others 1,519 48 - 1,567 41
TOTAL 23,626 (304) 9 23,331 54
SOUTHERN EUROPE
Greece Vodafone 51.9 1,523 43 (27) 1,539 72
Italy Omnitel
Vodafone 76.6 13,335 219 6 13,560 91
Malta Vodafone 80.0 115 7 - 122 92
Portugal Vodafone 50.9 1,418 * - * *
Spain Vodafone 91.6 6,995 246 - 7,241 55
Albania Vodafone 76.9 91 39 - 130 99
Others 404 * - * *
TOTAL 23,881 615 (21) 24,475 78
AMERICAS
United Verizon
States Wireless 3 44.2 12,993 88 - 13,081 6
Others 641 48 - 689 81
TOTAL 13,634 136 - 13,770 11
ASIA PACIFIC
Japan J-Phone
Vodafone 69.7 8,108 388 - 8,496 4
Australia Vodafone 95.5 2,026 24 - 2,050 37
New
Zealand Vodafone 100.0 1,044 51 - 1,095 78
Others 1,584 101 - 1,685 54
TOTAL 12,762 564 - 13,326 47
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
Egypt Vodafone 60.0 961 70 - 1,031 87
Others 2,133 105 (41) 2,197 84
TOTAL 3,094 175 (41) 3,228 85
GROUP TOTAL 99,858 1,330 (52) 101,136 50
1 All ownership percentages are stated as of 31 March 2002 and exclude options, warrants or other rights or
obligations of Vodafone Group Plc to increase or decrease ownership in any venture. Ownership interests
have been rounded to the nearest tenth of one percent.
2 Represents the acquisition of certain minority interests in Vodafone AG (formerly Mannesmann AG) during
the period, the reduction in ownership in Panafon S.A. following its increased participation in Mobitel
and the reduction in ownership in Safaricom Ltd following the exercise of an option.
3 The Group's proportionate customer base has been adjusted for Verizon Wireless's proportionate ownership
of its customer base across all its network interests of approximately 98.3%. In the absence of acquired
interests, this proportionate ownership will vary slightly from quarter to quarter dependent on the
underlying mix of net additions across each of these networks.
4 Prepaid customer percentages are calculated on a venture basis.
* Listed subsidiary still to report
VODAFONE GROUP PLC - MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATIONS BUSINESSES
CONTROLLED ACTIVE CUSTOMER INFORMATION AS AT 31 MARCH 2002
CONTROLLED ACTIVE 1 CONTROLLED
COUNTRY OPERATOR PREPAID CONTRACT TOTAL INACTIVE
(%) (%) (%) (%)
NORTHERN EUROPE
UK Vodafone 84 98 89 11
Ireland Vodafone 99 98 99 1
Netherlands Vodafone 88 99 92 8
Sweden Vodafone (a) * * * *
TOTAL 86 97 90 10
CENTRAL EUROPE
Germany Vodafone 89 94 91 9
Hungary Vodafone (a) 91 97 92 8
TOTAL 89 94 91 9
SOUTHERN EUROPE
Greece Vodafone (a) 71 90 76 24
Italy Omnitel Vodafone 94 92 93 7
Malta Vodafone 92 99 93 7
Portugal Vodafone * * * *
Spain Vodafone 86 94 89 11
Albania Vodafone 2 N/A N/A N/A N/A
TOTAL 89 94 90 10
ASIA PACIFIC
Japan J-Phone
Vodafone 2 N/A N/A 99 1
Australia Vodafone 90 95 93 7
New Zealand Vodafone 95 100 96 4
TOTAL 93 95 98 2
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
Egypt Vodafone (a) 96 96 96 4
TOTAL 96 96 96 4
CONTROLLED GROUP TOTAL 89 95 92 8
1 Active customers are defined as customers who have made or received a chargeable event in the last three
months or, where information is not available, defined as customers who have made a chargeable event in
the last three months (indicated by (a)).
2 No customer activity information is presently available in Albania, where network services commenced in
August 2001. In Japan, customer activity information is only presently available on a total customer
basis.
* Listed subsidiary still to report.
VODAFONE GROUP PLC - MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATIONS BUSINESSES
MONTHLY REGISTERED BLENDED ARPU FOR THE 15 MONTHS TO 31 MARCH 2002
Country Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar
Germany EUR 27 24 27 24 25 25 26 26 25 26 24 24 25 23 25
Italy 1 EUR 28 25 30 28 29 30 31 30 28 29 27 28 29 26 30
Japan 2 JPY 8,100 8,600 7,200 8,100 7,600 7,700 7,500 8,100 7,800 7,400 7,800 7,600 7,500 7,200 7,600
United GBP 24 23 24 22 24 23 23 24 23 24 23 22 23 22 24
Kingdom 1
ARPU INFORMATION FOR THE 12 MONTH PERIOD TO 31 MARCH 2002
ARPU 3
COUNTRY OPERATOR LOCAL REGISTERED REGISTERED REGISTERED
CURRENCY PREPAID CONTRACT TOTAL
NORTHERN EUROPE
UK Vodafone 1 GBP 118 555 276
Netherlands Vodafone EUR * * *
Sweden Vodafone SEK * * *
CENTRAL EUROPE
Germany Vodafone EUR 110 559 298
Hungary Vodafone HUF 37,895 198,069 53,417
SOUTHERN EUROPE
Greece Vodafone EUR * * *
Italy Omnitel Vodafone 1 EUR 297 769 345
Malta Vodafone MTL 94 913 170
Portugal Vodafone EUR * * *
Spain Vodafone EUR 148 639 371
ASIA PACIFIC
Japan J-Phone Vodafone JPY N/A N/A 91,903
Australia Vodafone 1 AUD 331 877 688
New Zealand Vodafone NZD 287 1,812 636
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
Egypt Vodafone 1 EGP 807 3,068 1,079
1. Prior to the current quarter, monthly and annual ARPU for the UK, Italy, Australia and Egypt were slightly
understated compared to other Group operators due to the exclusion of certain distributor discounts on
prepaid top-up cards from prepaid customer revenues. The impact on these operators of the alignment to
the Group's methodology of basing prepaid customer revenues on the face value of top-up cards has been to
increase the previously disclosed registered total ARPU for the 12 months to 31 December 2001 as set out
in the table below. In addition, as a result of the UK and Egypt now analysing incoming calls for
activity purposes, incoming interconnect revenue is now able to be more accurately attributed to prepaid
and contract revenue, substantially accounting for the revisions to 12 month contract and prepaid ARPU to
December 2001 detailed below.
RESTATED ARPU FOR THE 12 MONTH PERIOD TO 31 DECEMBER 2001
COUNTRY LOCAL REGISTERED REGISTERED REGISTERED
CURRENCY PREPAID CONTRACT TOTAL
UK GBP 125 552 278
Italy EUR 298 763 345
Australia AUD 342 880 701
Egypt EGP 939 2,958 1,192
2. J-Phone monthly and annual ARPU have been rephased to reflect the impact of a 13% reduction to
mobile-to-mobile inter-operator connection fees, effective March 2002 and applicable in arrears for the
period from April 2001 to March 2002. The impact of this rephasing has been to reduce previously
disclosed registered ARPU for the 12 months to 31 December 2001 from Yen 94,331 to Yen 93,550.
3. ARPU is calculated for the 12 month period to 31 March 2002 and excludes handset revenues and connection
fees.
* Listed subsidiary still to report.
VODAFONE GROUP PLC - MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATIONS BUSINESSES
NON-VOICE SERVICES AS A PERCENTAGE OF SERVICE REVENUES
PROPORTIONATE BASIS
12 MONTHS TO 31 MARCH 2002 MARCH 2002 (MONTH ONLY)
COUNTRY OPERATOR MESSAGING INTERNET TOTAL MESSAGING INTERNET TOTAL
DATA DATA DATA DATA DATA DATA
NORTHERN EUROPE
UK Vodafone 1 10.6% 1.2% 11.8% 12.3% 1.1% 13.4%
Others 6.3% 0.2% 6.5% 7.8% 0.3% 8.1%
TOTAL 8.8% 0.8% 9.6% 10.4% 0.8% 11.2%
CENTRAL EUROPE
Germany Vodafone 13.9% 0.5% 14.4% 14.5% 0.7% 15.2%
Others 6.8% 0.4% 7.2% 7.4% 0.5% 7.9%
TOTAL 13.0% 0.5% 13.5% 13.6% 0.7% 14.3%
SOUTHERN EUROPE
Italy Omnitel Vodafone 1 8.5% 0.2% 8.7% 9.5% 0.3% 9.8%
Others 7.6% 0.1% 7.7% 8.0% 0.1% 8.1%
TOTAL 8.1% 0.2% 8.3% 8.8% 0.2% 9.0%
AMERICAS
United States Verizon Wireless 0.1% 0.5% 0.6% 0.1% 0.5% 0.6%
Others - - - - - -
TOTAL 0.1% 0.5% 0.6% 0.1% 0.5% 0.6%
ASIA PACIFIC
Japan J-Phone Vodafone 2 5.6% 9.5% 15.1% 6.6% 13.2% 19.8%
Others 6.1% 0.3% 6.4% 7.6% 0.4% 8.0%
TOTAL 5.7% 7.6% 13.3% 6.8% 10.8% 17.6%
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA 3.3% 0.1% 3.4% 3.7% 0.1% 3.8%
PROPORTIONATE GROUP
TOTAL 3 7.0% 1.7% 8.7% 7.9% 2.4% 10.3%
STATUTORY BASIS
CONTROLLED GROUP TOTAL 3 9.5% 1.6% 11.1% 9.8% 3.7% 13.5%
1 Prior to the current quarter, monthly and annual data percentages for the UK and Italy were slightly
overstated compared to other Group operators due to the exclusion of certain distributor discounts on
prepaid top-up cards from prepaid customer revenues. The impact on these operators of the alignment to the
Group's methodology of basing prepaid customer revenues on the face value of top-up cards has been to
reduce the December 2001 reported annual total data percentages for the UK and Italy from 10.1% and 8.2%
to 10.1% and 7.9% respectively and the December 2001 monthly total data percentages from 12.9% and 11.1%
to 12.7% and 10.7% respectively.
2 With effect from the quarter ended 31 March 2002, J-Phone has allocated bundled airtime for the year to 31
March 2002 between voice, messaging and internet data revenues on the basis of actual usage, having
previously included all such bundled airtime in voice revenues. In addition, J-Phone monthly and annual
ARPU have been rephased to reflect the impact of a 13% reduction to mobile-to-mobile inter-operator
connection fees, effective March 2002 and applicable in arrears for the period from April 2001 to March
2002. The annual and monthly percentages for December 2001 on this new basis were 13.4% and 16.0%
respectively compared to the previously reported 12.3% and 13.8% respectively.
3 The impact of the changes in (1) and (2) above on the previously reported Group percentages were to
increase the proportionate Group total annual and monthly percentages from 7.8% and 9.3% to 8.0% and 9.7%
respectively and to increase the statutory controlled Group total annual and monthly percentages from
10.1% and 12.2% to 10.2% and 12.7% respectively.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange