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London - Britain's Vodafone, the world's biggest mobile phone company by revenues, said Tuesday that annual net profit more than halved after massive charges against its business in the global economic downturn.
Net earnings dived 53.8% to £3.08bn in the year to March after a charge of £5.9bn against the value of operations, particularly in recession-hit Spain.
The British mobile phone giant added in a results statement that pre-tax profits sank 53.5% to £4.19bn in 2008-2009.
However, sales increased 15.6% to £41.02bn, boosted by the British pound which weakened against rival currencies.
And the group added that a vast £1.0bn cost-cutting programme was running ahead of schedule.
"These results demonstrate the impact of the early actions we took to address the current economic conditions and highlight the benefits of our geographic diversity," said chief executive Vittorio Colao.
"The business continues to generate cash strongly and we have made good progress in implementing the strategy announced in November."
Vodafone, which employs around 10 000 people in Britain, launched a major cost-cutting programme in November to reduce costs by £1.0bn by March 2011.
Colao added: "Our £1.0bn cost reduction programme is ahead of plan and we continue to explore further ways to reduce cost. We maintain our tight focus on capital discipline and returns to shareholders."
Around 65% of the cost-cutting programme was expected to be achieved in the current 2009-2010 financial year.
- AFP
