Vodafone returns to profit, announces CEO departure

British telecoms giant Vodafone on Tuesday announced a return to annual profit, as it revealed that long-serving chief executive Vittorio Colao will step down later this year.

Group Chief Financial Officer Nick Read will succeed Colao from October, with the announcement coming less than a week after Vodafone unveiled a deal to turn it into Europe's largest cable and broadband operator by buying assets from US peer Liberty Global.

Vodafone on Tuesday posted net profit of 2.4 billion euros ($2.9 billion) in the 12 months to the end of March, which compared with a loss after tax of 6.3 billion euros in 2016/17, the group said in a statement.

The turnaround pointed to a "year of significant operational and strategic achievement and strong financial performance", Colao said.

"Our sustained investment in network quality supported robust commercial momentum," he added.

© 2018 AFP