1022 GMT - Vodafone Group's German recovery seems to have stalled, and overcoming its struggles there will be the next big hurdle for the U.K. telecommunications group, AJ Bell's Russ Mould says. The company raised its full-year guidance, in a sign of the progress it has made under Chief Executive Margherita Della Valle, Mould says. "Della Valle's big decisions since taking over as CEO--including ditching its Italian and Spanish businesses and combining its U.K. operations with Three--have largely been vindicated," he says. However, Germany remains a thorn in the side for Vodafone, as intense competitive pressures prompted organic service revenue to drop in the group's core business, AJ Bell says. Shares fall 1.5%.