LONDON - ‍Mobile group Vodafone on Thursday said top-line growth ​in Germany and a strong contribution from Turkey and Africa in its ⁠third quarter kept it on track to report full-year earnings and ⁠cash flow at ‌the upper end of its guidance.

The company, whose shares have risen 73% in the last 12 months, ⁠reported a 6.5% rise in total group revenue to 10.5 billion euros ($12.4 billion) supported by Africa and the consolidation of Three UK, the mobile network it merged with ⁠in Britain last year.

Germany, one ​of its biggest markets, reported 0.7% top-line growth in service revenue, an improvement on ‍the previous quarter, but Britain saw a decline of 0.5%, reflecting a prior ​year one-off in its business unit.

Chief Executive Margherita Della Valle said the integration of Three was making very good progress.

"Looking ahead, we are on track to deliver at the upper end of our guidance range for both profit and cash flow," she said.

The company reiterated that it expects adjusted core earnings and free cash flow for the year to end-March to come ⁠in at the upper end of its ‌guidance of 11.3-11.6 billion euros and 2.4-2.6 billion euros, respectively.

It said the next 500 million euro tranche of share buybacks ‌would start ⁠on Thursday, after completing 3.5 billion euros since May 2024.

($1 = 0.8475 euros)