LONDON (Reuters) - Vodafone said its key revenue measure deteriorated in the third quarter, down 40 basis points quarter-on-quarter to 0.1 percent, reflecting continuing price competition in Spain and Italy and a slowdown in South Africa.
Analysts had expected growth of 0.3 percent.
The world's second largest mobile operator said competition in the Spanish and Italian markets had moderated through the quarter.
"Lower mobile contract churn across our markets and improved customer trends in Italy and Spain are encouraging, however these have not yet translated into our financial results," Chief Executive Nick Read said on Friday.
He said the signs of improvement underpinned confidence in Vodafone's full-year guidance.
Vodafone expects around 3 percent growth in underlying adjusted core earnings for the full year, with free cash flow before spectrum costs coming in at about 5.4 billion euros.
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(Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by Kate Holton)