Vodafone beat out analyst estimates with a 0.4 percent decline in organic service revenue for Q3. Forecasts had expected a decline of around 0.7 percent.
The UK telecoms giant saw its business return to growth in the UK at 0.9 percent, where it has 19 million customers. Germany, Italy and Spain saw declines of 1 percent, 7.4 percent and 8.9 percent respectively.
Overall group revenue fell 13.5 percent to £10.9 billion in the quarter.
Vittorio Colao, Group Chief Executive, commented: "We have achieved another quarter of improving revenue trends in most of our major markets. Growth in India has accelerated again, driven by data. In Europe, improved commercial execution in both mobile and fixed over the last few quarters, combined with strong data demand and a more stable pricing environment, is supporting the steady recovery in the top line. Our recent cable acquisitions continue to perform well, with good progress made on integration.
"Our Project Spring investment programme is well advanced, with 4G coverage in Europe now 65 percent, dropped call rates down to 0.64 percent, and 26 million homes now passed by our own next generation networks: our customers are really beginning to notice the difference in experience that this investment delivers. We are confident that, over time, this will translate into further improvements in customer perception, ARPU and churn."
At a time of consolidation in the telecoms sector, the eventual fate of the telecoms provider remains uncertain. Some analysts believe that Vodafone may eventually be acquired by a larger company.
