RETIRING Vodafone boss Sir Christopher Gent is to leave the group on a high note after strong growth in his final year in charge.

Underlying profits, which strip out accounting charges, rose 36 per cent to £8.43bn, while turnover increased by 33 per cent to £30.37bn in the year to March 31.

Sir Christopher intends to quit as chief executive in July after 17 years building the company into the world's top mobile phone operation.

Despite the improved operating performance, Vodafone remained in the red overall after taking a £14bn charge to cover goodwill on acquisitions.

Bottom-line pre-tax losses narrowed to £6.21bn from £13.54bn, while net losses were £9.82bn compared with £16.15bn a year earlier.

Vodafone also resisted pressure to write down the value of 3G licences bought at the height of the telecoms boom three years ago.

Rival operator mmO2 fell £10.2bn into the red last week after taking a £5.9bn hit on licences bought in Germany and the UK.

Vodafone, which has attracted one million users worldwide to its Vodafone live! picture-based service, hopes to launch its 3G phones in Europe by the end of this financial year.

However, Sir Christopher said the company wanted to ensure that the technology and handsets were up to speed first. "We are going to get it right rather than rush into it prematurely," he said.

Chairman Lord MacLaurin said Sir Christopher had taken Vodafone from a company of "modest scale and inter-national reach to the leading mobile telecommunications company in the world".

He said: "Once again, we have delivered excellent results and this is a great testament to Sir Christopher Gent, our retiring chief executive."