Vodafone’s Spanish unit is to axe up to 1,300 jobs, as it integrates with cable operator Ono, although poor recent financial performance also played a role in the cull.

The operator employs a total of 6,000 employees following its acquisition last year of Ono, according to Reuters. The deal was a key part of Vodafone’s quadplay strategy, an approach it has also adopted in other European markets.

Vodafone said it will begin negotiations with employee representatives on 1 September over a programme that could see nearly 25 per cent of its workforce impacted.

In addition to the Ono integration, the redundancies result from “the drop in sales and EBITDA (core earnings) of both companies in recent years, together with large investments in next-generation networks”, a statement said.

Certainly, Vodafone Spain has underperformed in recent years, even relative to Vodafone’s European business, which has struggled as a whole.

Last week, the group reported organic revenue in Europe down 1.5 per cent for Q1. The UK saw organic revenue growth of 0.2 per cent, with declines of 1.2 per cent in Germany, 2 per cent in Italy, and 5.5 per cent in Spain.

Vodafone Group agreed to pay €7.2 billion to acquire Ono in March 2014 and is now integrating the cable operator with its own operations.