Vodafone PLC tweaked up its forecasts for the 2022 financial year after what it said was a good first half.
Revenues for the six months to end June 2021 rose by 5% to €22.5bn (£19bn) driven by Europe and Africa, with underlying earnings 6.5% better at €7.57bn.
Based on that, earnings for the year will be at the upper end of guidance, said the telecoms giant, implying underlying profits would grow in a range of 4.5%-5.9% to between €15.2-15.4bn,
Adjusted free cash flow will also be better than expected at around €5.3bn.
The group said it was also positioning the business arm to get as much as possible from the EU’s €750bn Next GenrationEU recovery initiative.
At least 20% of this funding is planned to support the European Commission's digital transformation agenda, said Vodafone, which added it was monitoring applications closely.
Vodafone has been one of the worst performers on the FTSE100 recently. Nick Read, chief executive, conceded the group had ‘more to do’, but said these results were a start.
"The results show we have demonstrated good sustainable growth and solid commercial momentum.
“Our strengthened performance in Africa and Europe puts us on track to be at the top end of our guidance for this year, as well as firmly within our medium-term financial ambitions.”
As well as EU funding, Read said the priorities in the immediate future would be to build momentum in Germany and turn around the operation in Spain.
Pre-tax interim profits fell to €1.28bn from €1.47bn, with the interim dividend maintained at 4.5c.