New CEO improves Vodafone's profitability

The policy of cutting back on operating costs and of rendering the business more efficient will drive the EBITDA of mobile telephony operator Vodafone Romania up by an additional 1 percentage point this financial year, Liliana Solomon, the company’s CEO told Ziarul Financiar.
Solomon would not disclose estimates on the total growth rate or revenue growth in the current fiscal year, which ends in March 2007.
The company, which in the previous fiscal year (March 2005 – March 2006) had posted turnover worth 1.008 billion dollars, will “easily” exceed the 1 billion-dollar mark this fiscal year, added the chief executive of Vodafone Romania.
As regards the profit margin, Vodafone will see a similar value to that of the previous fiscal year. Over the last fiscal year, Vodafone saw a profit margin of over 50%, with the EBITDA reaching 510.5 million dollars. The main reason for the profit margin staying relatively steady is that, along with cost cuts, prices of mobile telephony products and services are seeing a downward trend, explained Solomon.
Regarding the average revenue per user (ARPU), Solomon said “we want to increase the value of this indicator,” without providing further details. Halfway through this year, when the financial results were last revealed, the ARPU stood at 15.2 dollars. ARPU is a very important indicator in the mobile telephony industry. As a matter of fact, together with the value of revenue, it is a strategic business point for Liliana Solomon.
“The percentage of subscribers stands at 34%, while the remaining percentage are prepaid cards users. This is a normal level in the industry,” says Solomon. “If it exceeds 30%, it’s OK.”
Vodafone currently has some 2,800 employees, the number having increased by 400-500 after the company’s former chief operating officer, Ted Lattimore, handed over the company reigns to Liliana Solomon, in November last year.