Vodafone Share Price (VOD)

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Share Name Share Symbol Market Type Share ISIN Share Description
Vodafone Group Plc LSE:VOD London Ordinary Share GB00BH4HKS39 ORD USD0.20 20/21
  Price Change % Change Share Price Shares Traded Last Trade
  0.00 0.0% 126.50 70,630,754 16:35:16
Bid Price Offer Price High Price Low Price Open Price
126.60 126.66 126.92 125.58 125.68
Industry Sector Turnover (m) Profit (m) EPS - Basic PE Ratio Market Cap (m)
Mobile Telecommunications 38,392.86 3,330.53 6.06 20.4 33,945
Last Trade Time Trade Type Trade Size Trade Price Currency
17:51:20 O 533,211 126.505 GBX
Related Shares
Airtel Africa (AAF), Inmarsat (ISAT), Avanti Communications (AVN), Defenx (DFX)

Vodafone (VOD) Latest News

Vodafone News

Date Time Source Headline
23/6/202217:59UKREGVodafone Group Plc Transaction in Own Shares
22/6/202218:06UKREGVodafone Group Plc Transaction in Own Shares
21/6/202218:23UKREGVodafone Group Plc Transaction in Own Shares
21/6/202207:00UKREGVodafone Group Plc Major Shareholding Notification
17/6/202218:00UKREGVodafone Group Plc Transaction in Own Shares
16/6/202218:05UKREGVodafone Group Plc Transaction in Own Shares
15/6/202217:58UKREGVodafone Group Plc Transaction in Own Shares
14/6/202218:17UKREGVodafone Group Plc Transaction in Own Shares
13/6/202217:54UKREGVodafone Group Plc Transaction in Own Shares
10/6/202217:48UKREGVodafone Group Plc Transaction in Own Shares
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26/6/2022
09:20		Vodafone Daily Update: Vodafone Group Plc is listed in the Mobile Telecommunications sector of the London Stock Exchange with ticker VOD. The last closing price for Vodafone was 126.50p.
Vodafone Group Plc has a 4 week average price of 123.72p and a 12 week average price of 115.02p.
The 1 year high share price is 141.60p while the 1 year low share price is currently 106.30p.
There are currently 26,834,312,187 shares in issue and the average daily traded volume is 146,385,970 shares. The market capitalisation of Vodafone Group Plc is £33,945,404,916.56.
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01/6/2022
15:42		car1pet: I wouldn't claim to understand this but it appeared yesterday on sharecast. Berenberg keeps Vodafone at 'hold' following FY results Date: 3:18 pm, 31 May 2022 / Iain Gilbert LONDON - (Sharecast News) - Analysts at Berenberg took a fresh look at telecommunications giant Vodafone following the group's full-year results last Friday. Berenberg said Vodafone's goodwill accounting made "for interesting reading" but stated it would be wrong to assume that impairment testing assumptions were necessarily the same as the group's budgets and noted that it still believes that there are "two fascinating points" to note about Vodafone's goodwill impairment calculations. The analysts pointed out that Vodafone's German projected five-year EBITDAaL CAGR of -0.1% was well below consensus and down from +1.2% last year, with the company explaining that the measure was "expressed as the compound annual growth rates in the initial five years for all cash-generating units of the plans used for impairment testing" "In our model, we forecast a +0.7% five-year German EBITDAaL CAGR, while Visible Alpha consensus currently sits at +1.3%," said Berenberg, which made no changes to its 'hold' rating and £1.45 target price on the stock. The German bank also pointed out that an Italian impairment was only avoided by increasing the long-term growth rate assumption for analysing the division to +1.5% from +0.5% in last year's annual report despite the Italian service witnessing revenue decline of 1.8% in 2021/22. "This change in assumption is made more interesting when we look at the sensitivity analysis, which shows that a 0.3% reduction in the long-term growth rate would lead to an impairment loss," said Berenberg, which also pointed out that a one percentage point decrease to the group's long-term Italian growth rate would lead to a €600.0m impairment, in the context of Vodafone Italy carrying €2.5bn of goodwill overall. Berenberg also noted that Vodafone's three-year adjusted free cash flow targets had not yet been agreed, with details of the final range to be disclosed in the relevant market announcement at the time of grant and published in Vodafone's 2023 directors' remuneration report. However, it said there were "no big surprises" in the rest of executive pay, with the remuneration framework remaining the same as 2021 and "broadly appropriate". The bank also noted that the report's risk section evolution highlighted Vodafone's key challenges, with Vodafone continuing to outline ten risks, the same number as in last year's report, but with that in mind, Berenberg did note that the balance and weighting of the risks had evolved. "Interestingly, Vodafone now suggests that the risk of 'disintermediation' is increasing if Vodafone fails to effectively respond to threats from emerging technology or disruptive business models. Last year, this risk was said to be stable. 'Supply-chain disruption' is new, albeit replacing the similar 'geopolitical risk in supply chain' in last year's report. Similarly, 'technology resilience and future readiness' is new, albeit similar to 'technology failures' and 'IT transformation' from last year," said Berenberg. "'Infrastructure competitiveness' and 'portfolio transformation' are both new. We think that the latter is particularly relevant, given investor frustration at Vodafone's lack of progress after its overt messaging regarding M&A at the H1 results in November. Vodafone describes the risk as being 'failure to effectively execute on plans to transform and shape the portfolio could result in failure to deliver growth in revenue and improved returns' and identifies emerging threats that the 'regulatory approach to in-market consolidation may not change in the direction expected, limiting opportunities for value accretive in-market consolidation'." Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com
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15/5/2022
12:02		sarkasm: Https://www.climateaction.org/news/vodafone-agrees-10-year-solar-ppa-to-secure-clean-and-affordable-energy Vodafone agrees 10 year solar PPA to secure clean and affordable energy Vodafone and Centrica have announced the signing of a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with MYTILINEOS S.A for the output from three solar farms under construction in England, with a total capacity of 110MW. 13 May 2022 Press Release Vodafone and Centrica have announced the signing of a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with MYTILINEOS S.A for the output from three solar farms under construction in England, with a total capacity of 110MW. The 10-year agreement for power generated from the solar farms, in Lincolnshire, Worcestershire and Nottinghamshire, secures clean energy and supports Vodafone’s ambition to achieve net zero UK operations by 2027. Vodafone will purchase a significant proportion of the electricity output from the solar farms, securing their development and bringing additional renewable power provision to the UK grid. Energy generation is expected to begin by end 2022. The deal, between Vodafone, Centrica as the energy trading expert and MYTILINEOS’ Renewables & Storage Development Business Unit as the generator, supports the UK government’s ambition to focus on home-grown, clean and more affordable energy and so boost long-term energy independence and security. Power Purchase Agreements are key to Vodafone’s renewable energy procurement strategy. This is the second such agreement, and follows the development of two onshore wind farms, in Northamptonshire and Lincolnshire, which together supply 75 gigawatt hours of renewable electricity per year. Approximately 55GWh of green electricity will be dedicated to Vodafone UK, with the remainder being sold to balancing and merchant power markets through Centrica’s Energy Marketing & Trading business. Building on the longstanding customer relationship between Vodafone and Centrica, the agreement will help Vodafone effectively price hedge their energy supply needs whilst achieving sustainability benefits from carbon savings recorded against Vodafone’s Science Based Targets (SBTi). The deal reaffirms Centrica’s expertise in and commitment to supporting the growth of sustainable energy systems across Europe through providing market leading route-to-market services. Trading, optimising and balancing renewable energy is the core of Centrica’s expertise. Ahmed Essam, UK CEO, Vodafone, said: “Achieving our ambitious net zero targets is a critical part of our company strategy. Already, our entire business in the UK and Europe is powered by 100% renewable electricity. Today’s announcement ensures a significant proportion of our energy requirement, for at least the next 10 years, is home-grown in the UK.” Read the full article
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12/5/2022
11:47		spud: Vodafone in talks to combine UK arm with CK Hutchison’s Three https://www.ft.com/content/c4f9aac3-94f0-4d4b-ae9b-5b9e97fbc2d1 Telecoms group Vodafone is in talks to combine its UK operations with its domestic rival Three UK, the mobile operator owned by Hong Kong infrastructure conglomerate CK Hutchison, people with direct knowledge of the matter said. The deal, if it materialised, would herald the latest attempt to consolidate the British mobile market as Vodafone faces pressure from Europe’s largest activist investor, Cevian Capital, to simplify its business, pursue deals in national markets and improve returns. A combination of Vodafone UK and Three UK would bring together the third and fourth largest mobile network operators in Britain, though any deal to reduce the number of leading brands from four to three would trigger scrutiny from competition authorities. Industry executives are hopeful that regulators’ increased awareness of the need to invest in network infrastructure has made them more amenable to mergers than they were in 2016, when the European Commission blocked a proposed merger between O2 and Three. European telecoms groups have struggled over the past decade, with strong competition and consumer-friendly regulation weighing on earnings. Although Vodafone’s share price has rallied by 3 per cent since the start of the year, the company has shed 44 per cent of its value over the past five years. Three, meanwhile, has struggled to gain scale over the past few years, despite ambitions to double its size. Though the company has enjoyed an increase in net new customers since mid-2020, it has not managed to translate those gains into significant revenue growth. Last week, the company reported flat quarter-on-quarter revenues of £582mn. Over the past year, Vodafone chief executive Nick Read has been vocal about his desire to pursue deals in countries he believes suffer from an excess of market competition, including Spain, Italy and the UK. The exact structure being discussed between Vodafone and CK Hutchison could not be learnt, though Read has said on many occasions that he is focused on pursuing combinations more than outright purchases, given his ambitions to reduce the group’s debt. Earlier this year, analysts at Enders Analysis noted that Vodafone’s “lack of funding capacity” suggested that in the UK it could look to “form a joint venture with the potential to contribute additional debt or receive cash equalisation payments to assist with leverage reduction”. Analysts had previously speculated that Vodafone could seek to buy Three but noted that it would need to meet CK Hutchison’s hefty price expectations for the privilege of consolidating the market. Discussions between the two companies also took place last year, the Financial Times has previously reported, though they did not lead to a deal. CK Hutchison did not respond to a request for comment. Vodafone declined to comment. Vodafone announced on Thursday that it had appointed Lord Stephen Carter, the chief executive of business intelligence group Informa who served as the first chief executive of Ofcom, as a new non-executive director to its board. He also served as chief of strategy for then prime minister Gordon Brown and as minister for communications, technology and broadcasting between 2008 and 2009. spud
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23/4/2022
15:53		vodman1: Please use the sharing tools found via the share button at the top or side of articles. Copying articles to share with others is a breach of FT.com T&Cs and Copyright Policy. Email licensing@ft.com to buy additional rights. Subscribers may share up to 10 or 20 articles per month using the gift article service. More information can be found at https://www.ft.com/tour. https://www.ft.com/content/658e0a26-3f85-4a41-9a0a-2d0379dd974d Investors in Vodafone are urging the FTSE 100 telecoms group to speed up long-awaited deal making to improve its stuttering performance. Chief executive Nick Read has been under increased pressure since it emerged in January that Europe’s biggest activist investor, Cevian Capital, had taken a stake in the company and is angling for a major overhaul of the group, including shedding poor performing businesses, consolidating in key markets and beefing up telecoms expertise on the board. The past decade has been tough for European telecoms, with fierce competition and tight regulation weighing on earnings. Although Vodafone’s share price has rallied since the start of the year, the company has shed more than a third of its value over the past five years. For several months Vodafone has told investors that it would pursue deals with rival groups in markets where there is significant competition, such as Spain, Italy and the UK — but so far it has been unable to pull any of these off. “Vodafone’s failure to do a deal has been a problem,” said Peter Schoenfeld, founder of New York-based hedge fund PSAM, one of the company’s shareholders. “It’s not like they’re not focused on the right areas and trying to pursue opportunities. It’s that they’re executing poorly.” In February, Vodafone rejected an €11bn bid for its Italian business from French rival Iliad, owned by Xavier Niel, saying it was “not in the best interests of shareholders”. Then, after months of negotiations with Spain’s challenger telecoms group over a potential sale of its Spanish business, MasMovil turned its back on Vodafone in favour of a merger with Orange’s Spanish business. Schoenfeld added that it was “particularly worrying that Vodafone senior management has made no public comments or engagement in recent weeks — not even a statement on a missed opportunity in Spain”. One top 20 investor said: “We have serious doubts that the company can re-establish credibility with its legacy CEO and his strategy. There have been too many disappointments and missed opportunities.” Another top 20 shareholder said that over the past nine months Read, a company veteran who became CEO in 2018, had “come quite a long way, matured and grown into the role,” but said that some shareholders were “unconvinced on whether he has the true leadership qualities to be the best chief executive for Vodafone”. Another shareholder said that he was “disappointed” that Vodafone had “missed opportunities”. He urged the company to crack on with deals noting that in some markets, antitrust considerations mean that there are limited numbers of options. “If you reject an opportunity and someone else does it, you’re limiting your options and putting yourself into a corner,” he said. Harry Richards and Adam Darling, managers of the Jupiter Corporate Bond Fund, which has a position in Vodafone’s debt, said “we appreciate management’s intentions to simplify and de-lever the business” and that they were broadly comfortable with the company’s strategy. But they added: “We would like to see some tangible progress through actual news of deals.” Some investors are pushing for Vodafone to sell a stake in its infrastructure group Vantage Towers, which it spun out last year. Read has been clear that he is currently seeking a deal for the towers business, with a preference to pursue an industrial merger with Orange’s Totem business, or Deutsche Telekom. Most investors argue that a towers deal will make a material difference to Vodafone’s performance, reducing debt while freeing up cash to invest. Other telecoms groups like Altice have spun off towers businesses at rich valuations. PSAM’s Schoenfeld said that he wants the board to “direct management to emphasise a significant cash transaction for Vantage”. This would “transform Vodafone’s balance sheet, narrow the sum of the parts discount and facilitate the pursuit of new strategic options,” and potentially a capital return to shareholders, he added.  One shareholder said that while a change in chief executive might set Vodafone back again in terms of missed opportunities, “if Read doesn’t get something done soon with the towers . . . then his days are numbered”. Vodafone said in a statement that it remains “open and pragmatic when considering in-market consolidation” and it is “exploring multiple opportunities across a number of markets”. The statement added: “We will not execute fire sales and we’ll always be seeking value accretive transactions that clearly benefit our shareholders.” Vodafone said that it regularly updates shareholders on its strategy and will do so further at its full-year results next month.
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06/4/2022
00:21		vodman1: Analyzing How Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone, And Orange Are Monetizing Tower Assets Apr. 05, 2022 2:42 PM ETDeutsche Telekom AG (DTEGY), ORAN, VODCLLNY, VODPF3 Likes Summary After years of building and managing towers to host 4G and 5G antennae, Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone, and Orange are monetizing their infrastructure, with the British company being a step ahead. The reasons vary from high CapEx spending to sluggish growth while not forgetting their high debt levels. As for monetization strategies, they could take the form of outright sales of tower assets to towerCos or infrastructure plays. An industry-level merger whereby two of the three telcos merge could also turn out to be the preferred option, with Vodafone appearing to have more options. Whatever form it takes, monetization should unlock more value out of passive infrastructure assets and, as such, should positively impact valuations. Working at height morfous/E+ via Getty Images Unlike the U.S where tower companies (towercos) like American Tower (AMT) and Crown Castle (CCI) have been around for years, the European landscape is still rife with telecom operators (telcos) devoting large chunks of their capital expenditure to building tower masts in the countryside or on top of buildings from where they can hang 5G radio antennas. With inflation running high in Europe and pressures on the European Central Bank to raise interest rates, the era of cheap money may be over and in this new economic scenario, the big telcos Deutsche Telekom (OTCPK:DTEGY), Vodafone (VOD), and Orange (ORAN) have to reconsider or accelerate the way mobile towers are monetized given that their yearly Capex spends have all trended higher since 2018 coinciding with initial 5G investments. This is shown in the chart below. Yearly capital expenses Yearly capital expenses (www.seekingalpha.com) The individual amounts spent depend on individual strategies and also include expenses made in expanding fiber connectivity, especially from 2020 after the pandemic struck, but nonetheless, a substantial amount goes towards the fifth-generation wireless where the European top carriers struggling to achieve returns on investments. One solution is to monetize the tower infrastructure, which consists of towers, masts, rooftop sites, distributed antenna systems, and even small cells (the small antennae located on street light poles). These are considered passive assets and I start with the largest of the three, Deutsche Telekom ("DT"). DT's GD Towers/DFMG First, contrarily to the image they portray as bulky metal constructions which taint green countrysides, towers do generate revenues and the 1,400 units built during 2021 generated 9.1% of organic recurring revenue growth for DT with EBITDA growing by 7.9%. This is just like a landlord renting a building to tenants and getting paid on a recurrent basis. The German company also generated leasing revenues through renting tower space to mobile network operators (MNOs). For investors, tower assets are owned and managed by GD Towers with a portfolio of 6.3K tower sites as shown below. This includes Deutsche Funkturm (DFMG) plus the cell towers of T-Mobile Netherlands. Tower assets are located mostly in Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands. GD/tower ongoing Company presentations in (seekingalpha.com) Looking at finances, the company estimates that the cash Capex will grow from €17.7 billion in 2021 to €19.9 billion in 2022, but the problem is that in the meantime, European revenue should be stable (not increase), with a slight increase expected only in 2023. Adjusted EBITDA (excluding U.S operations) should grow by 10.5%, but the achievement of this target may prove difficult with the cost of doing business rising. Moreover, business confidence in the EU also fell to a one-year low in March 2022 and this may lead to uncertainty in demand for telco services and may be one of the reasons the company may have invited bids for its tower business for an amount estimated at €18 billion for 40.6K towers, or around two-thirds of the total number. This move is in line with the executives' objectives of deconsolidation and monetizing infrastructure assets, an area where Vodafone is a step further. Vodafone's Vantage Towers Vodafone, which I covered in February, floated Vantage Towers (OTCPK:VTWRF) in March 2021 on the Frankfurt stock exchange last year with 82K sites and owns 81% of the $17.94 billion business. According to some sources, the company has already been approached by Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (BIP) and Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), two companies that acquire and manage real assets in the telecom, energy, water as well as other sectors. Besides success in towers, revenues have only progressed slightly as shown in the chart below, with the increase in EBITDAal (which is the EBITDA plus the leasing of assets part) made possible partly by cost savings of €500 million, plus income from fiber where the group's participation in digitalizing smaller enterprises as part of EU-funded programs has started to benefit the business segment. Q3 financials Chart built through data from Q3 financials (seekingalpha.com) Due to the high level of capital additions and the need to reduce debt, the U.K.-based telco is facing pressure from some activist investors to increase returns. Moreover, its strategy to simplify its portfolio by divesting from some key markets where it is facing pricing pressure like in Italy and Spain seems not to be advancing rapidly. In this respect, it turned down an 11 billion euros bid for its Italian operations at the beginning of February this year. Additionally, in Spain, it is Orange that seems to be in the pole position for a potential merger with MásMóvil Ibercom (OTCPK:MMBMF) after entering into exclusive talks with the Spanish company. Orange may have short-circuited such a move by Vodafone, which was hiring investment bankers for merging purposes earlier in January. With this update, I move to the French company and its tower strategy. Orange's Totem Orange, which is also facing tough competition in Italy and Spain, has also embraced the monetization trend, by spinning off its network assets in November 2021, more specifically 26K towers and roof terraces where cellular antennas are installed. Totem, the newly formed entity is 100% owned by Orange and has an annual turnover of 500 million euros for an Ebitdal of 300 million euros. By some estimates, the company is valued at €5.8 billion. Totem, just like DT's DFMG aims to continually grow by supporting the growth of mobile networks for its own usage as well as attract new customers like Free, Bouygues Telecom (OTCPK:BOUYY), and SFR. These are French MNOs. In addition to organic growth, Orange is open to acquisitions in order to extend its geographical footprint in countries where it is present, such as Poland, Romania, and Belgium. One reason could be that it wants to replicate the good performance seen for mobile in France, where sales were up by 3%, at 2.27 billion euros. Still, overall sales in that country were down by 1.6%, but, good results in Africa and the Middle East regions resulted in the group's revenues increasing by 0.8%. Still, there was a decrease in EBITDA by 0,5%. while CAPEX increased by 7%. Orange sites Totem and 2021 financial results (orange.com) Of the 26K towers that Orange has transferred to Totem, 18K are in France and 8K in Spain. This country also happens to be home to Cellnex Telecom (OTCPK:CLLNY), the European leading towerco with a market cap of nearly $33 billion. The infrastructure company acquired Hivory, SFR's towerco which manages 10.5K towers for 5.2 billion euros in February last year. The same Cellnex merged its tower business in the Netherlands with DT's assets in that country at the beginning of 2021, leading to the creation of an independent infrastructure company. The Monetization Strategies Therefore, to optimize infrastructures while keeping 5G investments in a highly competitive backdrop, the European tower industry has already been consolidating. Going forward, M&A activities should accelerate given the sluggish revenue growth of the three telcos, except for their German peer whose superior growth is due to the shine of its U.S. subsidiary T-Mobile (TMUS). They also bear high debt levels as evidenced by the table below. peer comparison + tower business Peer comparison + Tower business (seekingalpha.com) Pursuing further, as shown in the Tower Business part of the table above, there is Germany which is common to both Vodafone and DT. This can translate into more synergistic growth through co-locating antennae on a common infrastructure in case they merge their tower businesses. The same can be the case when pairing together the U.K. company and its French peer with Spain and Romania being common countries where consolidation benefits can be obtained. Thinking aloud, due to more commonalities (in terms of country of operation) with each of its peers, Vodafone appears to be in a better position if there is a preference for a telco industry-level merger, rather than an outright buy-out of assets by an infrastructure company like Brookfield or GIP. There is also the possibility of towercos like Cellnex or AMT, which is on an internationalization drive, stepping in. Whatever, the option is chosen, any deal will have to obtain regulatory approval. Valuations and Key Takeaways As for the tower business values in the table above, these are not directly proportional to the number of tower sites. The reason is that there are other factors that come into play like tenancy ratio, regional collocation demand, and whether the towers are located on the ground or are rooftop-based. There are also industry verticals to consider as the Internet of Things for use in Industry 4.0., where 5G enables connected devices to access applications faster. Furthermore, as evidenced by the EBITDA margins of Cellnex, AMT, and Vantage which lie between the 53.5% and 63% range, the tower business is synonymous with much higher profitability than what is possible with telcos as shown in the table below. Comparison with peers Comparison with peers (seekingalpha.com) Additionally, a comparison of Cellnex's and AMT's metrics reveals that there are more growth opportunities in Europe currently. Profitability should be higher too as exemplified by the fact that only 25% of Deutsche Telekom's tower assets are currently utilized in some sites. This signifies the ability to host a lot of rent-generating antennae without additional investments. Finally, Vodafone's trailing EV/EBITDA is higher, partly explained by its shares moving higher after interest from infrastructure funds for its tower business in mid-March. However, this does not apply to Orange since it has not invited any bids for its infrastructure yet. Consequently, with European towerco prospects, it deserves higher valuations, and just assuming an EV/EBITDA of 6x, its shares should be about $15.9 (7/5.18 x 11.8) based on the current stock price. Along the same lines, DT could also move higher to $21.6 (8/7.1 x 19.6) based on an EV/EBITDA of 8x. On the other hand, I have a neutral instance on Vodafone given that its valuation is relatively high at 8.55x, and, updates as to its tower business during this quarter are likely to prove volatile for the stock.
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03/3/2022
13:26		sarkasm: Further to the announcement on 23 February 2022, Vodafone Group ("Vodafone") confirms that on 24 February 2022 the sale of 63.6 million shares in Indus Towers Limited ("Indus") was successfully executed through an accelerated book build offering (the "Placing") at a price of INR 226.84 per Indus share (the "Placing Price"). The Placing generated net proceeds of approximately INR 14.2 billion (US$189 million). Following the Placing, Vodafone entered into an agreement with Bharti Airtel Limited (one of the existing promoters of Indus, "Bharti"), to sell a further 127.1 million shares in Indus at a price which will be the lower of: i) the Placing Price less the broker fees associated with the Placing (resulting in a price of INR224.5763 per share); and ii) the volume weighted average price of Indus, calculated over a trading period up to the date when all conditions to completion have been satisfied, less the 9.9% discount at which the Placing was completed, less the 1% broker fees associated with the Placing. The Indus shares related to the Placing and the agreement with Bharti (the "Primary Shares") were all subject to the security arrangements entered into between Vodafone and Indus. Vodafone notes the announcement made by Vodafone Idea Limited ("Vi") on 3 March 2022 approving an equity raise of up to INR 45 billion (US$600 million) by way of a preferential allotment (the "Vi Capital Raise") and the scheduled meeting of VIL shareholders on 26 March 2022 to approve the Vi Capital Raise. Vodafone intends to contribute up to INR 33.75 billion (US$450 million), in the Vi Capital Raise, from net proceeds realised through the sale of the Primary Shares. Vodafone has the option to contribute any residual proceeds from the sale of the Primary Shares as capital to Vi before 15 July 2022. Any residual proceeds that are not contributed to Vi will be available to Indus until 19 November 2022 to guarantee Vi's obligations under the Master Services Agreements. Following completion of the sale of shares to Bharti, Vodafone would retain 567.2 million shares in Indus, equivalent to a 21.0% shareholding (the "Residual Shareholding"). Vodafone continues to be in discussions with several interested parties in relation to a potential sale of the Residual Shareholding. There is no certainty that an agreement will be reached in relation to such a sale. Indus will continue to have a secondary pledge over the Residual Shareholding ranking behind the security provided to Vodafone's existing lenders for the EUR1.4 billion loan utilised to fund Vodafone's contribution to the Vi rights issue in 2019. A further announcement will be made when appropriate. - ends -
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11/2/2022
17:10		nick100: Could Vodafone shares benefit from activist investor shakeup? Vodafone has rebuffed a bid for its Italian arm and is facing pressure from an activist shareholder. Are the shares worth buying into? Source: Bloomberg Shares Vodafone Investor Activist shareholder Italy Dividend IG Analyst | Publication date: Friday 11 February 2022 17:15 Vodafone shares are down 2% to 137.7p after the company rejected a bid for its Italian arm. French telecoms provider Iliad made an unsolicited offer for the business this week, reportedly offering €11bn (£9.2bn) for Vodafone Italy. The firm, run by French billionaire Xavier Niel, is backed by private equity group Apax Partners and the offer valued the business at seven times earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA). The mobile phone giant said it had rebuffed the “preliminary indication of interest” as it believed it was “not in the best interests of shareholders.” It told investors that management remains “focused on delivering shareholder value through a combination of its organic growth strategy over the medium-term and ongoing portfolio optimisation.” It says it is “pragmatically [pursuing] several value accretive in-market consolidation opportunities to deliver sustainable market structures in its major European markets, including Italy.” In a statement suggesting that the suitor won’t be upping its offer any time soon, Iliad said that it would now “pursue its stand-alone strategy”. Pressure from activist investor Cevian could drive telecoms consolidation Like a number of its FTSE100 peers, including Unilever and GlaxoSmithKline, Vodafone is facing pressure from an activist investor – in this case, Cevian Capital – which has built up a stake in the company and wants a shake-up of the business. The Swedish vehicle is backed by long-time activist investor Carl Icahn and is believed to be pushing for more consolidation within the mobile phone industry, focusing particularly on the UK, Spain and Italy. At the third-quarter trading update last week, Vodafone's chief executive Nick Read said that the company is already looking for merger opportunities in its European markets, bolstered by what it hopes is a more benign regulatory environment. “We remain focused on our operational priorities to strengthen commercial momentum in Germany, accelerate our transformation in Spain and position Vodafone Business to maximise EU recovery funding opportunities,”; he told investors. “We are also committed to creating value for our shareholders through proactive portfolio actions and continuing to improve returns at pace." As well as a change of strategy, Cevian is also thought to be pushing for changes to the board, which has many famous names on it, such as former London Stock Exchange boss Dame Clara Furse and ex-Reed Elsevier chief Sir Crispin Davis, but lacks members with specific telecoms experience. Vodafone on track to deliver at the full-year Third-quarter results were solid if unexciting. Revenues for the period grew 4.3% to €11.68bn, with group service revenue growth of 2.7%. Vodafone is seeing service revenue growth in both Europe and Africa, with growth in Germany of 1.1%, 4.4% in South Africa and 19.8% in Turkey, Egypt and Ghana. The company also said it is on track to deliver results for the full-year in line with the improved earnings guidance previously given to analysts in November, with adjusted EBITDAal (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and special losses) of between €15.2 - €15.4 billion and adjusted free cash flow of at least €5.3 billion. Could we see a revival in Vodafone shares? Shares in Vodafone have disappointed for years since reaching 253.75p back in May 2015 and are down 46%. However, they have had a good recent run after dropping to 106.4p last November, rising 29% to 137.7p. Citigroup analysts have reiterated their buy recommendation and set a price target of 170p. Vodafone shares are worth holding for the 5.8% dividend yield. It may be tempting to take some profits, but it may also be worth holding onto some shares to see what changes Cevian Capital is able to achieve - and if any further bids may be in the offing for Vodafone Italy. Go short and long with spread bets, CFDs and share dealing on 16,000+ shares with the UK’s No.1 platform.* Learn more about trading shares with us, or open an account to get started today.
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07/2/2022
05:34		the grumpy old men: BOIX 6 Feb '22 - 09:48 - 4411 of 4418 0 2 0 Sunday Telegraph Questor: an end to travel restrictions could reverse Vodafone’s FTSE underperformance Questor share tip: As long-term investors, we are willing to give the telecoms company more time to come good By Robert Stephens 6 February 2022 • 5:00am The economist John Maynard Keynes said that “in the long run we are all dead”. Indeed, no investor can be expected to offer their holdings an infinite amount of time to deliver on their potential. Ultimately, patience must be rewarded with attractive returns. However, in Questor’s view, a long-term approach is a key tenet of successful investing. Otherwise, an investor will constantly flip-flop between stocks without benefiting from factors such as improving operating conditions, strengthening financial positions and refreshed growth strategies. Our “buy” tip of Vodafone from January 2021 is an obvious example of a stock that needs more time to deliver on its potential. Since then, it has gained 8pc, but has lagged the FTSE 100 by eight percentage points. However, its third-quarter trading update, which was released last week, showed that its performance was in line with expectations and it is on track to meet guidance for the 2022 financial year. Encouragingly, the company stands to benefit from the post-pandemic reopening of the global economy. Roaming charges, which are levied when consumers use their mobile phones overseas, have naturally declined while travel restrictions have been in place. Their gradual return could act as a catalyst on profitability. So, too, could a global economy that is forecast to grow at an annualised rate of 4.1pc over the next two years. In addition, the company’s 5G rollout and wider focus on offering increasingly innovative products have not yet been allowed sufficient time to affect profitability. However, in the coming years, they are likely to offer growth opportunities as consumers trade up to faster, but more costly, data speeds. Industry consolidation also presents a growth opportunity for the firm as it seeks to improve its financial performance following news that activist investor Cevian Capital has taken a stake in the business. Vodafone’s chief executive stated last week that it is in discussions to merge with various rivals across Europe to create a larger business that benefits from economies of scale. Clearly, any such deals will naturally be of interest to regulators. However, greater returns among industry participants could lead to higher investment in mobile and fixed-line infrastructure in an era where speed and coverage matter more than ever. This could make industry consolidation more likely from a regulatory perspective. Separately, Vodafone’s business model could become increasingly attractive as market conditions evolve. Since our original tip, stock market sentiment has generally improved and allowed for greater risk-taking among investors. The company’s defensive characteristics, despite being unable to evade the impact of the pandemic, may hold greater appeal in future than in the recent past should the stock market’s performance begin to revert to its long-term average. Vodafone key facts Market value: £36.1bn Turnover (Mar 2021): £36.5bn Pre-tax profit (Mar 2021): £3.7bn Yield (Mar 2021): 5.6pc Most recent year’s dividend: 7.5p Net debt (Mar 2021): £51.6bn Return on capital (Mar 2021): 0.7pc Cash conversion ratio (Mar 2021): 338pc Adjusted p/e ratio (Mar 2021): 19.9 Meanwhile, a dividend yield of 5.6pc could become more attractive if the company is able to deliver on its earnings forecasts over the next few years. Dividends are due to move from being presently uncovered by net profit to enjoying coverage, albeit modest, of 1.1 times. If met, this could highlight to income investors that Vodafone is becoming a more reliable dividend stock. Of course, the company’s lack of progress in reducing its debt pile since our original tip is disappointing. In fact, net debt has not materially changed over recent months. While the net debt to equity ratio continues to hover around 110pc, the threat of a dividend cut is likely to act as a deterrent to investment among a sizeable proportion of income seekers. However, in Questor’s view, Vodafone deserves more time to strengthen its financial standing and improve its performance. So far, it has been a disappointment due to its underperformance versus the FTSE 100 since our original tip. But potential industry consolidation, an end to travel restrictions that prompts higher roaming charges and the rollout of 5G amid a buoyant global economic outlook could yet act as catalysts on its share price. Questor says: hold Ticker: VOD Share price at close: £134.2p
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06/2/2022
09:48		boix: Sunday Telegraph Questor: an end to travel restrictions could reverse Vodafone’s FTSE underperformance Questor share tip: As long-term investors, we are willing to give the telecoms company more time to come good By Robert Stephens 6 February 2022 • 5:00am The economist John Maynard Keynes said that “in the long run we are all dead”. Indeed, no investor can be expected to offer their holdings an infinite amount of time to deliver on their potential. Ultimately, patience must be rewarded with attractive returns. However, in Questor’s view, a long-term approach is a key tenet of successful investing. Otherwise, an investor will constantly flip-flop between stocks without benefiting from factors such as improving operating conditions, strengthening financial positions and refreshed growth strategies. Our “buy” tip of Vodafone from January 2021 is an obvious example of a stock that needs more time to deliver on its potential. Since then, it has gained 8pc, but has lagged the FTSE 100 by eight percentage points. However, its third-quarter trading update, which was released last week, showed that its performance was in line with expectations and it is on track to meet guidance for the 2022 financial year. Encouragingly, the company stands to benefit from the post-pandemic reopening of the global economy. Roaming charges, which are levied when consumers use their mobile phones overseas, have naturally declined while travel restrictions have been in place. Their gradual return could act as a catalyst on profitability. So, too, could a global economy that is forecast to grow at an annualised rate of 4.1pc over the next two years. In addition, the company’s 5G rollout and wider focus on offering increasingly innovative products have not yet been allowed sufficient time to affect profitability. However, in the coming years, they are likely to offer growth opportunities as consumers trade up to faster, but more costly, data speeds. Industry consolidation also presents a growth opportunity for the firm as it seeks to improve its financial performance following news that activist investor Cevian Capital has taken a stake in the business. Vodafone’s chief executive stated last week that it is in discussions to merge with various rivals across Europe to create a larger business that benefits from economies of scale. Clearly, any such deals will naturally be of interest to regulators. However, greater returns among industry participants could lead to higher investment in mobile and fixed-line infrastructure in an era where speed and coverage matter more than ever. This could make industry consolidation more likely from a regulatory perspective. Separately, Vodafone’s business model could become increasingly attractive as market conditions evolve. Since our original tip, stock market sentiment has generally improved and allowed for greater risk-taking among investors. The company’s defensive characteristics, despite being unable to evade the impact of the pandemic, may hold greater appeal in future than in the recent past should the stock market’s performance begin to revert to its long-term average. Vodafone key facts Market value: £36.1bn Turnover (Mar 2021): £36.5bn Pre-tax profit (Mar 2021): £3.7bn Yield (Mar 2021): 5.6pc Most recent year’s dividend: 7.5p Net debt (Mar 2021): £51.6bn Return on capital (Mar 2021): 0.7pc Cash conversion ratio (Mar 2021): 338pc Adjusted p/e ratio (Mar 2021): 19.9 Meanwhile, a dividend yield of 5.6pc could become more attractive if the company is able to deliver on its earnings forecasts over the next few years. Dividends are due to move from being presently uncovered by net profit to enjoying coverage, albeit modest, of 1.1 times. If met, this could highlight to income investors that Vodafone is becoming a more reliable dividend stock. Of course, the company’s lack of progress in reducing its debt pile since our original tip is disappointing. In fact, net debt has not materially changed over recent months. While the net debt to equity ratio continues to hover around 110pc, the threat of a dividend cut is likely to act as a deterrent to investment among a sizeable proportion of income seekers. However, in Questor’s view, Vodafone deserves more time to strengthen its financial standing and improve its performance. So far, it has been a disappointment due to its underperformance versus the FTSE 100 since our original tip. But potential industry consolidation, an end to travel restrictions that prompts higher roaming charges and the rollout of 5G amid a buoyant global economic outlook could yet act as catalysts on its share price. Questor says: hold Ticker: VOD Share price at close: £134.2p
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02/2/2022
10:52		boix: (Alliance News) - Vodafone reported promising third quarter trading though it was its pledge to commit to "proactive portfolio actions" that grabbed attention and added to M&A speculation. The statement comes in the wake of Vodafone being linked with Three, CK Hutchison's UK mobile operator. In January, Bloomberg reported Vodafone has "explored a potential purchase" of Three. The news agency, citing people with knowledge of the matter, said Vodafone expressed an interest late in 2021. The interest did not lead to an agreement, and Vodafone and CK Hutchinson are not in active talks, Bloomberg added. odafone Chief Executive Nick Read said on Wednesday: "We are also committed to creating value for our shareholders through proactive portfolio actions and continuing to improve returns at pace." Dan Risdale, an analyst at research house Edison, noted the Three speculation. "In January there was some speculation that the group intended to buy Three UK from CK Hutchinson – which raised Vodafone's share price to 125.24p, its highest level in 7 months. This potential M&A deal would add an extra 9.3 million customers to Vodafone's UK network," Risdale said. Late last week, Bloomberg reported that activist investor Cevian Capital had taken a stake in Vodafone, and the two had discussed how to boost the performance of the telecom operator. Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Susannah Streeter commented: "Speculation surrounding a deal with Three and a fresh tie up in Italy is set to intensify with this update, given Vodafone has reiterated its commitment to 'proactive portfolio actions' to try and keep shareholders happier. "Simplifying the overall structure has been part of the game plan for management but progress so far had done little to revitalise the share price, which only moved upwards in recent weeks over speculation of fresh deals and the arrival of Cevian Capital to the party. It's hoped the activist investors will help shove management into some faster moves but there will still be the same regulatory hurdles to jump through if more targeted M&A activity is on the cards." Streeter added that the third-quarter trading update was "reassuring". In the three months to December 31, revenue rose 4.3% annually to EUR11.68 billion from EUR11.20 billion a year earlier. On an organic basis, growth was 3.7%. Service revenue, which includes airtime usage, monthly access charges and roaming, climbed 3.1% annually to EUR9.65 billion. It was up 2.7% organically. This is where Vodafone generates most of its revenue. In Germany, third quarter service revenue grew 1.1%, quickening a touch from the second quarter's 1.0% hike. Streeter added: "Investors have been disappointed by returns, particularly from its operations in Germany and revenue growth was still a sluggish 1.1% in the third quarter, only a slightly improvement on the previous period. Vodafone says it is focused on strengthening momentum in Germany, and it clearly needs a rocket thrust of growth. Part of the overall problem is that Vodafone is such sprawling business, with tentacles stretching through partnerships and ties ups across Europe to Turkey and Africa. "The fact the company is on track for the full year is reassuring, and the door seems wide open to future deals." Vodafone reaffirmed that it expects annual adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and after leases between EUR15.2 billion and EUR15.4 billion for all of financial 2022. It expects EUR5.3 billion in free cash flow. For financial 2021, Vodafone reported adjusted Ebitda of EUR14.39 billion and free cash flow of EUR3.11 billion. Vodafone shares were 3.3% higher at 132.13 pence each in London on Wednesday morning. The stock is up just 3.7% over the past 12 months, compared to the wider FTSE 100's 16% advance. CEO Read said Vodafone is focused on strengthening in Germany and transforming in Spain. It also wants to "maximise" opportunities from the EU recovery fund. "These are the kind of things that investors will want to hear, though activist Cevian Capital may argue that it's all talk and not enough action. It could be time for Vodafone to speed up its value generation efforts, and one way is to sharpen its focus on fewer areas rather than have fingers in so many pies," AJ Bell analyst Russ Mould commented. "The simplification process has already begun without any activist pressure, but this is a slow-moving beast which could use some gentle prodding to speed along." The telecommunications sector is a "pedestrian" one, Mould argued, potentially at odds with the sort of fast change an activist investor would look to achieve. "That could create a culture clash, so expect some fireworks between Vodafone's management and Cevian if it does decide to take a more aggressive approach to pushing for change," Mould added. By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
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