By Paul Sandle

LONDON (Reuters) -Vodafone’s shareholders will be rewarded with the first dividend increase in eight years after a return to growth in Germany helped the European mobile and broadband operator upgrade its earnings outlook.

Shares in the British company, which are trading at two-and-a-half-year highs, rose 5% to 94 pence after it reported on Tuesday a 5.9% rise in first-half adjusted earnings to 5.73 billion euros ($6.68 billion).

The group slashed its dividend by 40% in May 2019 after the cost of buying 5G spectrum caused its debt to balloon.

Chief Executive Margherita Della Valle has reshaped Vodafone since she took over in January 2023, merging with rival Three in Britain to become the market leader and exiting tough markets in Spain and Italy.

It is now the biggest o

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