Mobile firm’s profits slide by 14%

Pre-tax profits at the Irish arm of Vodafone fell 14% last year to €100.2m, figures show. According to accounts just filed with the Companies Office, Vodafone Ireland Ltd recorded the €17m drop in profit after revenues slipped 1.4% from €1.018bn to €1.004bn in the 12 months to the end of March 2014.

The accounts show that the firm led by Cork native, Anne O’Leary paid a dividend of €80m to its parent last year following a dividend payout of €150m in fiscal 2013.

The firm is the market leader in Ireland for mobile phone customers, with 2.1m at the end of March last.

Last year it recorded an 18.3%, or 184,000, increase in the number of smartphone users with 1.2 million customers.

The firm’s overall customer base in Ireland is 2.4m.

According to the directors’ report, the increase in smartphone users has contributed to strong year-on-year growth in data usage of 45%.

The directors say the average revenue per user rose to €29.90 in the quarter ended March 31 2014, up by 1.8% on the same period in 2013 “as customers benefited from price reductions Vodafone brought to the market”.

The report further stated: “Vodafone has performed well over the last 12 months in a continuing challenging and competitive environment.

“While the operating environment remains challenging, Vodafone continues to react to the changing conditions by delivering innovative products and services as well as exceptional value to our customers. By doing so, they continue to maintain a strong competitive business and have secured strong traction in the fixed-line market.”

The profits last year take account of hefty non-cash depreciation and amortisation costs of €151.5m. The company’s operating costs reduced from €269.5m to €266.9m with cost of sales increasing from €476.8m to €486.5m.

The figures show that the firm’s profits were hit by net interest payments of €2.5m.

Numbers employed by Vodafone, in Ireland, reduced further last year with the loss of 83 jobs resulting in a dip from 1,066 to 983, with staff costs reducing by 15% from €93.82m to €79.68m.

This included wages and salaries reducing from €80.77m to €66.45m.

The aggregate remuneration, including pension contributions, to the firm’s directors: chief executive, Anne O’Leary, Edward Traynor and Nadya Bhettay increased last year from €1.2m to €1.33m.