Vodafone revenues hit by European slowdown

Vodafone, the second largest mobile operator in the world, has seen a sharp fall in revenue due to lack of demand and increased competition in Europe.

The company's organic service revenues fell 4.8% in the last three months of 2013 after declining 4.9% in the previous quarter. The fall in European revenue was the key reason for the disappointing results, down 9.6%, while emerging market divisions saw revenue growth of 5.5%. The mobile operator has blamed regulatory price cuts, fierce competition and a fall in the number of calls made by European consumers during the period. The group has been competing with the likes of Telefonica in Italy, rival provider Orange, and Deutsche Telecom in Germany, and has described these pressures...