Vodafone ups forecasts as sales take off

Mobile phone giant Vodafone today raised its profit guidance for the year on the back of increasing revenues for the fourth quarter running.

Chief executive Vittorio Colao outlined Vodafone's new "post-recession" strategy. He said: "We have succeeded in creating a stronger Vodafone; now we must create a more valuable Vodafone."

In order to achieve this, Vodafone will sell its stake in Japan's Softbank for £3.1 billion. This is its second major sale of a minority overseas interest in three months — in September it sold its shares in China Mobile for £4.3 billion.

Colao also said he wanted to maximise the value of Vodafone's stakes in America's Verizon Wireless and SFR in France. Analysts reckon this means putting pressure on Verizon to start paying significant dividends and selling the SFR stake to majority owner Vivendi for around 8.4 billion (£7.2 billion), although Colao said that "all options remain open". Vodafone said full-year operating profits would be between £11.8 billion and £12.2 billion — £400 million more than earlier forecasts.

First-half operating profits came in at £6 billion — up 2.7%. Vodafone shares rose 3p to 177p.

Colao added that he wanted to "establish Vodafone as the leading data company in Europe, Africa and India." He said: "This is not just about smart phones but all sorts of data devices."