Vodafone profit jumps on sale of Softbank stake

LONDON: British telecoms company Vodafone reported Tuesday that net profit for the first half of the year jumped 56 per cent to 7.50 billion pounds ($12.12 billion), thanks to higher revenue and the sale of a business. The company lifted its outlook.

Vodafone said it has agreed to sell a 3.1 billion pounds stake in Japanese telecoms investment firm SoftBank Corp. It owned the stake since selling Vodafone Japan in 2006, and the gains will be received in two parts _ in December this year and in April 2012.

The deal follows the 4.3 billion pounds sale in September of a stake in China Mobile Ltd. and is part of the company's broader strategy to shed minority interests to concentrate on data services, a sector which is growing as more people surf the web on smartphones.

Chief Executive Vittorio Colao left open the possibility of more business sales. ``We have also today announced an updated strategy, which positions Vodafone to realise further value from non-controlled assets,'' he said in a statement.

Revenue rose 4 per cent to 22.60 billion pounds in the third quarter from 21.76 billion pounds a year earlier.

Most of the growth was organic _ that is, not due to acquisitions of new business _ and came largely from emerging markets. It also saw growth in the US, where it owns Verizon Wireless, while demand in Europe was weaker.

The company lifted its outlook for 2011 and now expects an adjusted operating profit of between 11.8 billion pounds and 12.2 billion pounds, up from a 11.2-12 billion pounds range.

Shares in Vodafone Group PLC were up 0.9 per cent at 176.60 pence on the London Stock Exchange.