Vodafone loses more than a million subscribers

Vodafone Hutchison Australia is still losing mobile subscribers, according to UK-based Vodafone Group’s most recent filing with the London Stock Exchange.

The Vodafone Group filing shows the carrier lost 44,000 subscribers during the March quarter, falling to just 4.964 million, down from 6 million customers a year earlier.

The filing also notes that 38.1% of the carrier’s customers currently use prepaid.

VHA, which uses the Vodafone brand in Australia, is a joint venture of Vodafone Group and Hong Kong-based Hutchinson Whampoa.

The UK-based telecommunications giant noted overall organic service revenue growth across its Africa, Middle East and Asia-Pacific subsidiaries of 6.1%, with growth in all markets in the region other than Australia and New Zealand.

Despite the declines, Vodafone Group told investors it remains confident in the turnaround of its Australian subsidiary.

“Our joint venture in Australia experienced a service revenue decline of 9.0%.  The turnaround plan remains on track, yielding improved levels of network performance, net promoter score and customer base management. The EBITDA margin was improved by 14.8 percentage points, as a result of restructuring and stronger cost discipline.”

The results come after SingTel-owned rival Optus recently reported a 10.2% year-on-year drop in quarterly net profits.