Vodafone Italy pips India ops to be third largest in Vodafone Group

Vodafone India has lost its position in the Vodafone Group Plc. Till last year, it was the third largest contributor to the group's revenues. But now it has been replaced by Vodafone's Italian operations.

Thomas Reisten, CFO of Vodafone India, said the drop was due to the increase in stake in Vodafone Italy, which in turn has increased its revenue position. Also, the services revenue of Vodafone India does not include revenue from Indus Towers, an infrastructure joint venture between Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular.

Vodafone India registered a revenue of Rs 20,642 crore, up 11.7 per cent, in the first half of 2014/15. In the same period, its EBITDA grew by 11.9 per cent. Marten Pieters, Managing Director and CEO of Vodafone India, attributed the growth to increased investments and data growth. Data revenue grew by 65.5 per cent to Rs. 2,552 crore. The company's 3G customer base grew 204 per cent to 13.6 million subscribers.

Vodafone has also increased its capital expenditure by 116.3 per cent to Rs. 3,509 crore in the first half. Though the company has managed grow profitably in India, Pieters might have to review the company's speed of growth, given the drop in position. After all, Vittorio Colao, Group CEO, had said last year that India had the potential to be one of the top two contributors.