Mobile phone giant Vodafone extended its cost cutting by another £1bn yesterday after revealing half-year results in line with its hopes.
The pledge for the period to 2012 comes after Newbury-based Vodafone achieved its original £1bn savings target a year earlier than expected.
It reported adjusted pre-tax profits of £5.48bn, up 3.6 per cent in the six months to September 30, but de
scribed competition in a key growth market of India as intense and reported a 5.7 per cent drop in revenues in the UK.
Operating profits rose 2.4 per cent to £5.9bn, keeping Vodafone on track for its full-year target of between £11bn and £11.8bn. Chief executive Vittorio Colao said: "We have confirmed our guidance for the full year, despite the uncertainties of current economic trends."
The group said a quarter of cost savings in the current cost programme were being used to finance roll-out of new services, such as its Vodafone 360 offer which gathers music, games, photos and video in one place.
The additional £1bn of savings will come from utilising sourcing and scale benefits, as well as from further overhead reductions. The company did not provide details on how this might impact on job numbers.
In the UK, where the company faces intense competition, Vodafone's operating profits fell to £75m from £182m a year earlier.
It said pricing pressures and the continued reduction in prepaid customers were only partially offset by higher revenues from data usage.
