Vodafone grew its total revenue by 5% to €9.8bn in Q3, after reporting a boost in its UK operations.

The mobile telecoms operator saw an acceleration in the UK in its organic service revenue growth to 3.3% in Q3, up from 1.2% in Q2, after citing significant investments made in its “customer experience”.

Vodafone was delivering a Q3 trading update, covering the three-month period to 31 December 2024, which also revealed that the company grew its total group service revenue by 5.6% in Q3, to €7.9bn and on an organic basis increased by 5.2%, which was up from 4.2% in Q2.

Vodafone said the acceleration in quarterly trends was driven by the UK as well as an improved performance in Africa, as its performance in Germany, its largest market, was impacted by a TV law change.

The latest figures from Vodafone also follow the group’s confirmation in December that the Competition and Markets Authority had approved the UK merger with Three. Vodafone is expecting this merger to formally complete “in the next few months”, it said.

“When the UK merger completes in the next few months, we will have fully executed Vodafone’s reshaping for growth,” Vodafone chief executive, Margherita Della Valle, said. “We are on track to grow in line with our full year guidance for this year, which we reiterate today, and are looking forward to a stronger Vodafone in the years ahead.”

Vodafone also reiterated its full-year guidance and confirmed it is still on track to deliver a group adjusted EBITDAaL of €11bn, and group adjusted free cash flow of at least €2.4bn.

The telecoms group also confirmed it was commencing today with plans for a final €500m tranche from an initial €2bn share buyback programme, which has to date seen 1.8 billion shares repurchased for €1.5bn since May last year.

Senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, Matt Britzman, added: “The signal’s getting stronger at Vodafone, with service revenue growth exceeding expectations, thanks to dialled-up performance in the UK, Africa, and Turkey. But Germany remains a dropped call, weighing on overall performance.

“With €2bn in share buybacks on speed dial and over €2.4bn in free cash flow expected for the year, the case for good returns is still alive and well – but investors will want to keep an ear out for static from Germany’s ongoing struggles.”

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