The British telecom company Vodafone Group increased its operating profit by 12 percent to 2.9 billion euros (about 70 billion crowns) in the first half of the financial year, which also operates in the Czech Republic, said in a results report on Tuesday.
But it downgraded its full-year outlook due to rising energy costs and weaker results in Germany, Italy, and Spain. Chief executive Nick Read said the company was raising prices in almost all European markets.
Vodafone now expects its adjusted operating profit for the full financial year to the end of March to be between EUR15.0 billion and EUR15.2 billion, compared with its previous forecast of EUR15.0 billion to EUR15.5 billion. In the first half of the year, that profit fell 2.6 percent to 7.2 billion euros.
Read said Vodafone was facing a challenging macroeconomic environment. “We are taking several steps to mitigate the impact of high energy costs and rising inflation,” he said. He said the company intends to cut costs by a billion euros in the coming years, which will impact jobs, Reuters reported.
Vodafone serves more than 4.5 million customers in the Czech market, of which more than four million are on mobile services and another 700,000 or so on fixed services. The company has not yet specified how and when the prices will change.
Higher prices at T-Mobile and O2
Rival T-Mobile also revealed its new tariff portfolio last month. The price of the tariffs has increased slightly, with some being replaced by versions with a lower price tag and a lower data cap. The Magento operator is now gradually transferring all its customers to these tariffs.
O2 also made some of its domestic services more expensive in September. Customers will pay an extra CZK 50 monthly for most internet and TV tariffs. According to the company, the price increase is raising operating costs.
“The cost of operating O2 services has been rising significantly in recent months. To be able to continue to provide them at the quality and level to which customers are accustomed, we have had to reflect this increase in the prices of some fixed services,” said O2 spokeswoman Veronika Zachariášová.