Vodafone returns to growth with rising revenues

Vodafone is back in growth after being hit by the downturn

Vodafone says quarterly service revenues have risen for the first time since the global recession hit.

The world's largest mobile operator by revenue saw organic service revenue rise 1.1% to £10.6bn in the April to June quarter, helped by improvements in Germany, Britain and Turkey.

The company said its focus in Europe on data traffic - accessing the internet - had improved its performance there.

In Turkey, Vodafone achieved its highest quarterly revenue to date.

The increase in service revenue comes after three successive quarters of falls for the Newbury-based firm..

"These are the first quarterly results to show service revenue growth since the global recession impacted," said chief executive Vittorio Colao.

Vodafone's last annual pre-tax profits, for the year to March, were £8.7bn.