Vodafone Adds 54,000 Customers in Quarter

VODAFONE NEW ZEALAND added 54,000 mobile customers in the final quarter of 2007, after customer numbers dropped by 13,000 the previous quarter.

The last three months of the year are traditionally strong ones for mobile phones companies, because subscription numbers are boosted by cellphones bought as Christmas gifts. During the final quarter of 2006, Vodafone added 89,000 customers.

Telecom is due to report its fourth-quarter subscriber numbers at its quarterly briefing on Friday. It is expected to have taken on more new subscribers than Vodafone over the quarter.

Vodafone reported that its 2.3 million customers spent an average of $52.10 a month on its services during the quarter, well up on $48.80 the previous quarter.

Its British parent’s quarterly revenues topped market forecasts at (PndStlg)9.2 billion (NZ$23.5 billion), with organic growth of 4.4 per cent just ahead of most expectations.

The numbers were not impressive enough to lift a sombre market mood and Vodafone’s shares slipped in a weaker overall market. “The market mood is changing,” said one telecoms analyst, noting that where once-strong results would have sent a stock surging, they now left investors cold. “But the results were commendably dependable.”

One top performer was Vodafone’s minority investment in Verizon Wireless, which is controlled by United States heavyweight Verizon Communications. Despite market fears of a looming US recession, revenues grew by 14.4 per cent.

Chief executive Arun Sarin said he had yet to see any tangible sign of an economic slowdown hitting his businesses. “We think we are resilient, but not immune (to an economic slowdown).”

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