Vodafone has reported stronger-than-expected revenue growth during its second quarter, this has pushed the company's expected total annual growth towards the top-end of its guidance.

The world's second largest mobile service provider experienced annual quarter organic service revenue growth of 1.2% - this was up from the 0.8% recorded in the first quarter, and the 0.9% which had been expected by analysts.

Core earnings in the six months to the end of September increased by 1.9% to £5.79bn (€8.1bn).

The company says that it is growing in seven of its 13 European markets - with southern-European States experiencing strong recoveries.

"We have reached an important turning point for the group with a return to organic growth in service revenue and EBITDA in the first half of the financial year," CEO Vittorio Colao said. He added that European markets remain highly competitive.

In recent years the company has invested heavily in developing its network - 80% of its customers can now access 4G mobile internet services.