LONDON-Vodafone Group plc reported revenues for the fiscal year ended March 31 of $5.4 billion, a 36-percent increase from the $4 billion in revenues reported for the previous year.
The company reported earnings of $1.5 billion, or 33 cents per share, compared with earnings of $1.1 billion, or 22 cents per share, for 1997.
“The Group increased its worldwide customer base by more than 4.6 million new customers, proportionate to equity stakes, to end the year with more than 10.4 million customers, a growth of 79 percent. We believe that mobile penetration rates in most of our major markets will exceed 50 percent by the end of 2002,” said Chris Gent, chief executive of Vodafone Group plc.
Other highlights for the year include the company’s merger with AirTouch Communications Inc., which is expected to close in the next few months.
Vodafone also said it acquired New Zealand’s only Global System for Mobile communications network in October 1998, and successfully launched Misrfone service in Egypt in November of last year.
