Mobile carrier Vodafone Romania recorded service revenues worth EUR 174 million in the three months ended December 31, 2015, 5.1% higher (on an organic basis) compared to the same period of the previous year.

Vodafone ended the year with 9.1 million clients, some 500,000 more compared to December 2014. It had close to 8.5 million mobile customers. Some 59% of all clients had prepaid services and 41% had subscriptions (postpaid services).

The main growth engine for the company’s revenues were the mobile data services (mobile broadband internet). The data consumption in Vodafone Romania’s network was 2.3 times higher in the last quarter of 2015 compared to the same quarter of 2014.

The data consumption increased together with the smartphone penetration rate. The smartphone sales were 44% higher in the last three months of 2015 compared to the same period of 2014, according to Vodafone Romania’s representatives.

Vodafone Romania’s revenues returned to growth in the 2015/2016 fiscal year, which started on April 1, 2015, and ends on March 31, 2016. The company had service revenues of some EUR 514 million between April 1 and December 31, last year, up by an average 5% (on an organic basis) compared to the same period of the previous year.

In the 12 months ended March 31, 2015, Vodafone Romania’s revenues had declined by 6.7%, to EUR 656.6 million, due to the negative impact of mobile termination rates decrease.

Vodafone’s revenues in Romania continue decline despite client number increase

Andrei Chirileasa, andrei@romania-insider.com