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By Graham Hayday, 12 November 2002 11:35

NEWS Mobile giant Vodafone has managed to shave over £5bn off its losses during the last half year to stand at £4.34bn. Before tax and goodwill amortisation were taken into account, its profits actually increased by 41 per cent to £4.25bn. That figure was well up on the £3.25bn forecast by City analysts. Turnover increased 67 per cent to £14.9bn, with Vodafone saying it particularly benefitted from the inclusion of results from the group's Japanese operations. In the UK, ARPU (average revenue per user) for the 12 months to 30 September 2002 increased to £282 compared to £276 for the 12 months ending 31 March 2002. Mobile data revenues also increased and made a significant contribution to overall turnover growth and ARPU improvements, according to Vodafone. At £1.7bn, data accounted for 13.2 per cent of service revenues for the 12 months ended 30 September 2002, compared with 11.1 per cent for the 2002 financial year. SMS revenues continue to make up the bulk of these data revenues. The group is also expecting to grow non-voice service revenues through its Vodafone live! and Vodafone Mobile Office offerings. It also achieved an increase of over 12 per cent in its registered customer base since 30 September 2001 to 107.5 million. Sir Christopher Gent, chief executive of Vodafone Group Plc, said in a statement: "We are making the transition to the new growth environment enabled by our new data services, with a better financial performance than expected. We expect to achieve good year on year growth on key performance parameters and are very confident in the future prospects for our business." Julian Horn-Smith, group chief operating officer, added: "The improvements in ARPU, margins and cash flows demonstrate our focus on growing a high quality customer base, promoting new and existing services and driving operational efficiency throughout the group. Our new customer propositions, together with our strong brand, create a compelling platform on which to achieve our future growth objectives."