LONDON (AP) — Mobile phone service provider Vodafone Group PLC said yesterday that its revenues rose 14 percent in the last three months of 2008 compared to the same period a year earlier, led by a 28-percent gain in its Asia, Pacific and Middle East operations.

In a trading update, the company, headquartered in Newbury, England, reported revenue of 10.47 billion pounds ($15 billion) for the three months ending December 31, Vodafone's fiscal third quarter.

Vodafone also upgraded its full-year revenue forecast by about four percent to reflect the declining value of the British pound. Third-quarter revenue rose 15 percent in Europe, driven by foreign exchange movements, and six percent in Africa-Central Europe.

Service revenue rose 12 percent at Verizon Wireless, Vodafone's joint venture with Verizon in the United States.

Vodafone shares rose 6.6 percent to 136.6 pence in morning trading on the London Stock Exchange. "Vodafone is not immune to the wider economic challenges and parts of its European operation are beginning to feel the strain," said Richard Hunter, analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers.

The company's share price rose eight percent in a period when the FTSE-100 index fell by eight percent, Hunter noted.

"Even so, the company's positive outlook has further bolstered the share price in early trade, with the general market view continuing to tend towards the positive as Vodafone displays its cash generative prowess once again."