Vodafone TV customers down 656,000 in 1Q 2024

VodafoneGroup Plc has announced FY24 preliminary results, for the year ended 31 March 2024.

Germany

Total revenue decreased by 1.2% to €13.0 billion, driven by lower equipment revenue. Service revenue grew by 0.2% (Q3: 0.3%, Q4: 0.6%) as the contribution from higher broadband ARPU was largely offset by the cumulative impact of broadband and TV customer losses and lower regulated rates for terminating mobile calls. Growth improved in Q4, as higher consumer mobile ARPU and customer base growth was partially offset by a 0.9 percentage point impact from the end to bulk TV contracting in Multi Dwelling Units(‘MDUs’).

Fixed service revenue increased by 0.3% (Q3: 1.0%, Q4: -0.2%) as broadband ARPU growth was partially offset by the impact of a lower broadband and TV customer base. The slowdown in fixed service revenue growth in Q4 was primarily driven by a 1.7 percentage point impact from changes to German TV laws.

Ahead of changes to German TV laws, which take effect from July 2024 and change the practice of bulk TV contracting in MDUs, we have started migrating end users to new contracts at scale. Based on our experience to date, we expect to retain around 50% of the 8.5 million MDU TV households. At the end of March 2024, we had already actively retained 1.9 million households. Our total TV customer base declined by 1.0 million during the year, primarily due to the MDU transition, which began in the last quarter of FY24.

TV customers – Europe

TV Customers (thousands)

          Q4 FY22  Q1 FY23  Q2 FY23  Q3 FY23  Q4 FY23  Q1 FY24  Q2 FY24  Q3 FY24  Q4 FY24
          -------  -------  -------  -------  -------  -------  -------  -------  -------
Germany    13,172   13,093   13,007   12,895   12,760   12,640   12,547   12,411   11,758
Portugal      808      819      833      846      852      861      871      881      886
Other       1,729    1,733    1,747    1,737    1,733    1,728    1,720    1,714    1,706
Europe*    15,709   15,645   15,587   15,478   15,345   15,229   15,138   15,006   14,350

Net Additions (thousands)

          Q4 FY22  Q1 FY23  Q2 FY23  Q3 FY23  Q4 FY23  Q1 FY24  Q2 FY24  Q3 FY24  Q4 FY24
          -------  -------  -------  -------  -------  -------  -------  -------  -------
Germany     (133)     (79)     (86)    (112)    (135)    (120)     (93)    (136)    (653)
Portugal       12       11       14       13        6        9       10       10        5
Other         (6)        4       14     (10)      (4)      (5)      (8)      (6)      (8)
Europe*     (127)     (64)     (58)    (109)    (133)    (116)     (91)    (132)    (656)

* Europe totals exclude TV customers from Italy, Spain, and Hungary.

Other businesses: VodafoneZiggo (Netherlands)

TV Customers (thousands)

Q4 FY22  Q1 FY23  Q2 FY23  Q3 FY23  Q4 FY23  Q1 FY24  Q2 FY24  Q3 FY24  Q4 FY24
-------  -------  -------  -------  -------  -------  -------  -------  -------
  3,705    3,691    3,670    3,665    3,645    3,612    3,573    3,525    3,492
   (25)     (14)     (21)      (5)     (20)     (33)     (39)     (48)     (33)