Vodafone in talks with Telstra over NZ arm

Vodafone has announced that it is in discussions with Australian operator Telstra over the potential acquisition of its New Zealand subsidiary, TelstraClear.

“Discussions are continuing and there is no certainty as to whether an agreement will be reached.  A further announcement will be made in due course, if appropriate,” Vodafone said in a statement.

Vodafone is looking to strengthen its global operations after it blamed its relatively stagnant 2011 financial performance on the “tough macroeconomic and regulatory environment in much of Europe”. The operator revealed that it had written down the value of its assets in Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece by £4bn and organic service revenue in Europe was down 1.1 per cent year-on-year.

However, it performed well in emerging markets, revenue from India grew 19.5 per cent, Turkey grew 25.1 per cent, and the firm’s African subsidiary Vodacom saw revenue rise 7.1 per cent.

Group revenue reached £46.4bn for the year ending 31 March, 2012, up 1.2 per cent on the £45.9bn posted in the previous year. Profit before tax stood at £9.55bn, a 0.5 per cent increase on the £9.5bn posted in the previous year.