Vodafone’s 3,000 job cuts are only the “first leg” of a fresh restructuring drive, its chief executive has confirmed, although its UK workforce is expected to be largely spared further redundancies following the merger with Three.

Margherita Della Valle said on Tuesday that the latest cuts, made between April and September, were separate from the 11,000 redundancies announced in 2023, which were completed in March.

“The 3,000 you’re referring to are for the first six months of this year,” she told reporters following the FTSE 100 telecoms giant’s half-year results.

“They are essentially the first leg of the transformation that we will now drive in line with the announcements we made in May.”

However, Della Valle played down the prospect of significant further job losses in Britain, where Vodafone is integrating its operations with Three following their £16.5bn merger.

“Jobs are not a big feature of the synergies we are delivering,” she said. “Our synergies are coming from network, IT, marketing simplification.”

The chief executive added that most overlapping roles, particularly at head-office level, had already been removed.

Vodafone presses ahead with European cuts

Vodafone announced a further 2,300 job cuts in Germany on Monday, which Della Valle confirmed would be in addition to the 3,000 roles already eliminated.

The German redundancies will take place over the next two years, bringing the total number of jobs cut or earmarked for removal under the latest restructuring to 5,300.

Vodafone is targeting €2bn (£1.7bn) in cost savings by 2030, having already delivered more than €200m in the first half.

The company also upgraded its full-year profit and cash flow forecasts after group revenue climbed 11.4 per cent to €21.9bn.

In Britain, revenue jumped 10.2 per cent to €4.9bn, boosted by the Three merger, with Vodafone already delivering €50m in integration savings.

Duncan Ferris, analyst at Freetrade, said: “In the UK, headline numbers got a healthy injection from the Three merger, but underlying performance showed continued progress.”

Della Valle backs Talktalk rescue

Della Valle also backed the government’s intervention in the rescue of struggling broadband provider Talktalk, saying ministers had been right to act to protect customers.

“There was a matter of urgency given the circumstances, and so the government had to intervene on behalf of the customers, particularly considering the vulnerable customers in the Talktalk base,” she said.

However, she warned that the deal’s longer-term implications for competition would need careful consideration, particularly across the retail and wholesale broadband markets.

Asked whether Vodafone had raised concerns with the Competition and Markets Authority, Della Valle declined to comment on the ongoing process.