Vodafone Group announces full year 2022 results

Total revenue increased by 4.0% to €45.6 billion (FY21: €43.8 billion), driven by service revenue growth in Europe and Africa, and higher equipment revenue, as well asfavourable foreign exchange movements.

Adjusted EBITDAaL increased by 5.0%* to €15.2 billion (FY21: €14.4 billion) due to revenue growth, and strong cost control, supported by a legal settlement in Italy. The Adjusted EBITDAaL margin was 0.5* percentage points higher year-on-year at 33.4%.

Operating profit increased by 11.1% to €5.7 billion (FY21: €5.1 billion), reflecting higher Adjusted EBITDAaL, and lower depreciation and amortisation on owned assets, partly offset by lower other income.

The Group made a profit for the financial year of €2.6 billion (FY21: €0.5 billion). The profit increase was primarily driven by higher Adjusted EBITDAaL, and lower income tax expense.

Basic earnings pershare was 7.20 eurocents, compared to basic earnings pershare of 0.38 eurocentsin the prior year.

Cash flow, funding & capital allocation
Cash inflow from operating activitiesincreased by 5.0% to €18.1 billion (FY21: €17.2 billion).

Free cash flow was an inflow of €3.3 billion (FY21: inflow of €3.1 billion). Higher Adjusted EBITDAaL, and lower licence and spectrum payments were partially offset by lower working capital, lower interest received and paid, and higher restructuring and integration cash expenditure during the year. Adjusted free cash flow was an inflow of €5.4 billion (FY21: inflow of €5.0 billion).

Net debt at 31 March 2022 was €41.6 billion, compared to €40.5 billion as at 31 March 2021. Net debt increased by €1.1 billion due to share buybacks of €2.0 billion (1,441 million shares) used to offset dilution linked to mandatory convertible bonds, partially offset by Free cash flow of €3.3 billion less equity dividends paid of €2.5 billion.

Total dividends per share are 9.0 eurocents (FY21: 9.0 eurocents), including a final dividend per share of 4.5 eurocents. The ex-dividend date for the final dividend is 1 June 2022 for ordinary shareholders, the record date is 6 June 2022 and the dividend is payable on 5 August 2022.

Our strategy focuses on driving shareholder returns through growth, and is delivered through three customer commitments and three enabling strategies. These work together towards our vision to become a new generation connectivity and digitalservices provider for Europe and Africa, enabling an inclusive and sustainable digital society. We have made good progress with our strategy during FY22 and highlights include: further deepening our customer relationships with lower customer churn; good results from our increased capital investment with improvements in network quality; increasing penetration of financial services in Africa; and another successful year of digital enabled efficiencies, driving the highest Adjusted EBITDAaL margin over the last decade. Our strategic progress has enabled us to deliver well against our medium-term financial ambitions with growth in pre-tax ROCE to 7.2%. The table below includes a selection of KPIsthat illustrates progressin our key areas of focus.

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