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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
  -0.46 -0.32% 141.56 14,773,384 14:33:26
Bid Price Offer Price High Price Low Price Open Price
141.54 141.60 142.50 140.70 142.48
Industry Sector Turnover (m) Profit (m) EPS - Basic PE Ratio Market Cap (m)
Mobile Telecommunications 39,964.45 706.45 -2.78 37,987
Last Trade Time Trade Type Trade Size Trade Price Currency
14:33:26 AT 2,624 141.56 GBX
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Vodafone (VOD) Latest News (2)

Vodafone News

Date Time Source Headline
06/5/202117:29UKREGVodafone Group Plc Transaction in Own Shares
05/5/202117:34UKREGVodafone Group Plc Transaction in Own Shares
04/5/202117:45UKREGVodafone Group Plc Transaction in Own Shares
04/5/202109:00UKREGVodafone Group Plc Total Voting Rights
03/5/202111:09DJNGoogle Cloud, Vodafone Seal Data Partnership
30/4/202118:21UKREGVodafone Group Plc Transaction in Own Shares
29/4/202118:06UKREGVodafone Group Plc Transaction in Own Shares
28/4/202117:44UKREGVodafone Group Plc Transaction in Own Shares
27/4/202117:34UKREGVodafone Group Plc Transaction in Own Shares
27/4/202109:38ALNCUK Ofcom reveals final outcome of 5G spectrum auction
More Vodafone News
Vodafone Investors    Vodafone Takeover Rumours
Smart Money!
VOD is a large holding in the following funds:
 Fund  Percentage of Fund  Last Updated 
 EP GLOBAL OPPORTUNITIES TRUST PLC 2.90% 2020-11-30

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Vodafone Forums and Chat

Date Time Title Posts
06/5/202117:24Vodafone - Charts & News1,039
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30/3/202111:41VODAFONE - TARGET OF 65P73
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Vodafone (VOD) Most Recent Trades

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13:33:26141.562,6243,714.53AT
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Vodafone (VOD) Top Chat Posts

DateSubject
07/5/2021
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 142.02p.
Vodafone Group Plc has a 4 week average price of 131.20p and a 12 week average price of 121.28p.
The 1 year high share price is 142.50p while the 1 year low share price is currently 100.54p.
There are currently 26,834,312,187 shares in issue and the average daily traded volume is 127,265,771 shares. The market capitalisation of Vodafone Group Plc is £37,970,551,744.61.
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27/4/2021
20:07		diku: Does VOD share price track Tower share price or vice versa?...
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09/3/2021
11:24		ariane: Vantage Towers IPO values company at up to €14.7 billion Ray Le Maistre By Ray Le Maistre Mar 9, 2021 AddThis Sharing Buttons Share to LinkedIn Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to EmailShare to More Picture courtesy of Vantage Towers Picture courtesy of Vantage Towers Shares set to list on Frankfurt exchange on 18 March Demand will determine final price and number of shares listed Parent Vodafone could raise up to €2.8 billion from IPO Vantage Towers, Vodafone’s neutral host spin-off that has 82,000 macro sites in 10 markets around Europe, is to list its shares on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange from 18 March in an IPO that will value the company at up to €14.7 billion and raise parent company Vodafone up to €2.8 billion. Vantage says the price range for its shares is €22.50 to €29.00 and that, depending on demand, it will sell a minimum of €2 billion worth of stock, but that could rise to €2.8 billion. Two investors, Digital Colony and RRI, have pledged to invest €950 million between them as part of the IPO process. The maximum stake to be sold in this listing will be 24.6% of Vantage’s total share capital. Depending on the price range, Vantage says its market value will be between €11.4 billion and €14.7 billion. Vodafone will receive all the proceeds but also assume the costs of the IPO process. The valuation, which may be regarded as a little below expectations, hasn’t spooked Vodafone’s investors, as the operator’s share price is up slightly on the London Stock Exchange today at 127 pence. The success of the IPO, which was confirmed in late February, will provide other neutral host companies with an indication of the value of their assets and the appetite from investors for such businesses. “Demand for data and connectivity across Europe is powering growth in the towers sector,” stated Vantage Towers CEO Vivek Badrinath in the company’s pricing announcement. “Our superior grid and leading market positions mean we are well placed to benefit from this growth and our recent financial results highlighted the good commercial and operational momentum across the business.” As a neutral, wholesale company (but one with a very strong anchor tenant in the form of Vodafone’s operating units), Vantage aims to be a 5G superhost and play a prominent role in the mobile broadband infrastructure strategies of multiple service providers. But it faces stiff competition from the likes of Cellnex, whose most recent M&A move was in France, and American Tower, which is buying Telefónica’s tower assets. To add to the neutral host mix in Europe, Orange recently announced the formation of Totem, which has 25,500 sites in France and Spain. - Ray Le Maistre, Editorial Director, TelecomTV
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24/2/2021
16:45		monte1: Vodafone confirms massive IPO and big dividend by Graeme Evans from interactive investor | 24th February 2021 13:40 Share on: The float of its Vantage Towers business has been well flagged, but we now have more detail. One of the biggest IPOs of the year was unveiled today when Vodafone (LSE:VOD) confirmed plans for the Frankfurt flotation of its vast European mobile phone towers business. The listing of Vantage Towers will take place before the end of March and should prove attractive to investors wanting exposure to the roll-out of 5G services in Europe. A promised pay-out ratio worth 60% of free cash flow will add to the appeal for income investors, with a €280 million (£241.5 million) dividend scheduled for payment in July, and the company targeting mid-to-high single-digit growth in cash flows beyond that. For Vodafone investors, the significant proceeds from the “meaningful221; minority free float will help to pay down some of the FTSE 100 index company's debt, which stood at €44 billion (£38 billion) at the end of September. The trading of the Vantage stake should also enable City analysts to fine tune their valuations on Vodafone's infrastructure assets. Shares were today 2% lower at 127.18p, having fallen back in recent days after an encouraging third-quarter trading update at the start of February. The IPO pricing details are still to be confirmed, but speculation this week has suggested the Vantage business could be valued at about €15 billion (£13 billion). Dusseldorf-based Vantage boasts 82,000 sites across 10 countries and is the number one or two largest in nine of its ten markets. Vodafone said Vantage was seeing strong “commercial momentum”, with about 1,400 new tenancies expected in the nine months to next month. And driven by mobile data growth and the 5G roll out, Vantage is on track to build 550 new sites in the current financial year and has commitments for a further 7,100 sites by 2026. Vodafone said: “The European tower market is in the early stages of its evolution and Vantage Towers believes that its high quality infrastructure, which offers superior locations and nationwide coverage, is well-positioned to benefit from the market's growth.” It also noted that the commercialisation of tower infrastructure companies is still a developing trend in Europe, with substantial room for growth compared with other more mature towers markets such as in the United States. The customer base is underpinned by its anchor tenant relationship with Vodafone, which is Europe's largest mobile operator by subscriber numbers, as well as relationships with other leading mobile operators. Inflation-linked contracts also offer visible and resilient revenue and cash flows from its existing business with "built-in" growth. The European focus of Vantage means Vodafone has chosen Frankfurt over London for the flotation. Towers chief executive Vivek Badrinath said: "The IPO is an important milestone and sets the foundations for the next stage of our growth within the dynamic towers industry.”
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24/2/2021
12:54		dig and sell: For as long as VOD owns the towers business, it is reflected in the VOD share price. The amount of cash raised in the IPO if/when they sell will drive the share price impact. If the market judges that vod got a fair price there should be no change in share price (towers business out, equivalent amount of cash in) all else being equal. If the cash raised is thought to be low, or high, the share price will move accordingly. The other complicating factor is whether or not any cash raised is then used effectively. The towers business is cash-generative. By hanging onto it, vod has an income stream. By selling, vod will be able to pay-down a large chunk of debt. This avoids future interest and loan repayment costs, but it will also reduce leverage and improve vod's credit rating making remaining debt cheaper to service (but debt is pretty cheap at the moment anyway). So, what is the best strategy: sell at fair-value, or keep it in house? The market will provide the answer in due course!
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24/2/2021
09:33		diku: So when its under VOD stake is it reflected in VOD share price?...I mean the valuation...what else is in VOD that can be flogged off?...
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14/2/2021
01:34		vodman1: Rating Action: Moody's assigns a first-time Baa3 issuer rating to Vantage Towers AG; stable outlookGlobal Credit Research - 12 Feb 2021London, 12 February 2021 -- Moody's Investors Service, ("Moody's") has today assigned a first-time Baa3 Issuer Rating to Vantage Towers AG (Vantage Towers). The rating outlook is stable. Headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany, Vantage Towers is a leading European tower infrastructure company with around 45,500 fully controlled macro sites, and further 14,200 and 22,100 co-controlled macro sites in Cornerstone Telecommunications Infrastructure Limited (Cornerstone) and Infrastrutture Wireless Italiane S.p.A (INWIT) JVs, respectively, and is currently a 100% owned subsidiary of telecom operator, Vodafone Group Plc (rated Baa2, Negative).Moody's understands that the company intends to pursue a listing on the Prime Standard Segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Vodafone aims to retain a majority stake in Vantage Towers post IPO, given the strategic nature of the tower infrastructure and the potential value creation opportunity.Vantage Towers' reported pro forma Adjusted EBITDA for FY2020 (fiscal year ending 31st March 2020) of EUR814 million (before lease expense and excluding income from INWIT and Cornerstone), and currently has an outstanding senior unsecured inter-company loan (due December 2021, with a further 12 months extension option) from Vodafone.The company's opening reported debt at the end of FY2021 is expected to be approximately EUR2.3 billion with a net leverage of around 4.0x EBITDAaL (after lease expense), which will equate to a Moody's-adjusted Gross Debt/EBITDA (excluding income from INWIT and Cornerstone) of around 5.0x. Moody's understands that the company has arranged third-party debt to be raised at the closing of the IPO to replace the outstanding inter-company borrowings it currently has with Vodafone.RATINGS RATIONALEThe Baa3 issuer rating of Vantage Towers reflects (1) its strong market position as a large and a geographically well-diversified tower company in Europe with high barriers to entry for competitors and high barriers to exit for customers; (2) good earnings and cash flow predictability, predominantly supported by anchor long-term service contracts with Vodafone; (3) the expectation of medium-term EBITDA growth driven by site additions, improving tenancies ratios and operational efficiencies; (4) good market valuation of the co-controlled stakes in Cornerstone (50%) and INWIT (33.2%), although both will continue to carry ring-fenced reported net debt leverage of around 3.0x-4.0x and up to 6.0x respectively; and (5) its well-defined ownership, independent management and governance structure with Vodafone committed to remaining its majority shareholder after the IPO.However, Vantage Towers' credit profile is constrained by (1) its high customer concentration with Vodafone, which will reduce only modestly over the medium term, (2) short history of operating as a separate entity with limited standalone historical audited financial information, (3) despite supportive cash dividends from INWIT and Cornerstone, Moody's expectation of negative free cash flow over the next two years, as a result of Vantage Towers' capital intensive model and planned dividend payments (of EUR280 million to be paid in FY2022), and (5) a starting net leverage of around 4.0x EBITDAaL (after leases) (company reported) with willingness to increase up to 5.5x for accommodating strategic organic and inorganic growth opportunities whilst continuing to target an investment grade rating.Vantage Towers has a portfolio of c.82,000 macro sites (including the sites in co-controlled Cornerstone and INWIT) and has leading market positions in 9 of its 10 European markets. The company generated revenues of EUR945 million in FY2020PF (excluding equity-accounted Cornerstone and INWIT that together generated around EUR1 billion of revenues on a pro forma basis). 49% of its reported revenues in FY2020PF were from Germany, 17% from Spain, 13% from Greece and 21% from other markets including Portugal, Czech Republic, Romania, Hungary and Ireland.Vodafone is the anchor tenant of Vantage Towers accounting for around 83% of macro sites revenues. Vantage Towers has secured Master Services Agreements (MSAs) with Vodafone in each of its markets. Each MSA has an initial non-cancellable term of 8 years, which will then extend for another three non-cancellable 8-year periods, unless, at the end of each term, Vodafone, with at least 12 months' prior notice, decides not to extend the terms of the MSA. Given the practical and prohibitive cost implications of switching to non-Vantage Towers infrastructure, Moody's believes it is highly likely the MSAs remain in force in the long-term.Vantage Towers has overlap with Cellnex in 5 out of 10 countries in which it operates. Spain is the only sizeable market where such overlap is meaningful where Vantage Towers is number 2 and Cellnex is number 3 in telecom macro sites, with similar sized operations. Moody's understands that in Spain Vantage Towers is contracted with active sharing number 2 and 3 telecom players, Vodafone and Orange, which creates high barriers to entry. INWIT and Cornerstone will also continue to remain the market leaders (by the number of macro sites) in Italy and the UK respectively, even after Cellnex's acquisition of CK Hutchison towers that got largely complete in January 2021.Over the medium term, Vantage Towers plans to achieve mid-single digit revenue growth (excluding pass through revenues) via focusing on increasing the tenancy ratio from 1.37x in FY2020PF to over 1.50x. As part of its plan the company will focus on increasing its number of tenancies from 62,100 in FY2020PF to over 77,600, excluding Cornerstone and INWIT. Moody's takes comfort from the fact that this planned increase in tenancies is well supported by 13,400 highly predictable tenancies including 7,100 of committed new sites and 4,000 tenancies on white spots. The company is aiming to generate reported EBITDAaL margin (after deducting operating lease expense and excluding pass through revenues) in the high fifties percentage compared to mid-fifties for FY2020PF.Moody's expects Vantage Towers to generate negative free cash flow (Moody's adjusted) over the next two years as a result of its high capex requirements and the 60% dividend payout of the company-defined 'recurring free cash flow (including dividends from associates)'. The company operates a capital intensive business model as it requires high expansionary capital spending in order to fulfil 7,100 contractual built-to-suit commitments that it is targeting over FY2022-FY2026. The company has budgeted a total capex for such new sites for EUR1 billion. In addition, as part of its strategy to optimize the cash lease payment, the company will incur ground lease buyout capital spending targeting 10% of its current portfolio. Moody's forecasts the company's total reported capex to range in EUR400 million-EUR450 million per annum in the next two to three years, representing 40% of its total revenue (of which maintenance capex is expected to be only c. 3% of revenue).Due to the high capital spending requirements, Vantage Towers will only see limited de-leveraging in the next 12-24 months, mainly driven by EBITDA growth. Moody's expects the company's gross leverage (Moody's adjusted) to range between 4.8x-5.0x over the next two years, assuming no meaningful debt-funded M&A transactions or exceptional shareholder returns.The company has said that it may lever up its balance sheet to 5.5x reported net leverage from the opening 4.0x in order to fund organic and inorganic growth. In Moody's opinion the likelihood of any large debt-financed acquisition appears low in the near-term as the company will be prioritizing sustained organic revenue growth via executing its planned growth capex investments. Nevertheless, Moody's would expect the company to take a disciplined approach to any M&A transaction in future such that it is able to maintain its credit metrics commensurate with a Baa3 rating.LIQUIDITYThe company's liquidity position is supported by an expected newly committed revolving credit facility (RCF) of EUR300 million (due 2024 with two one-year extensions; fully undrawn). At the end of FY2021, Moody's expects the company to have around EUR150 million in cash and cash equivalents. Cash on balance sheet, internally generated cash flows together with the availability under the RCF should be sufficient to fund its high capital spending requirements, dividends payout, and other operational needs in the next 12-18 months.ESG CONSIDERATIONSVantage Towers has low exposure to major environmental or social risks.The company has a limited record of operating as an independent entity. It has a well-defined financial policy and has outlined its willingness to increase leverage to 5.5x, representing EUR1 billion debt capacity on top of its net starting leverage of 4.0x to invest in organic or inorganic opportunities. The company has also communicated a clear commitment to maintaining an investment grade rating.Upon the completion of the prospective IPO, Vantage Towers will operate as an independent subsidiary with a two-tier board structure comprising four independent directors, including chair, and five Vodafone nominees. Vodafone aims to retain a majority stake in Vantage Towers post IPO and itself has an investment-grade credit profile and disciplined financial policy. Vantage Towers' operational relationship with Vodafone is clearly defined in the multiple MSAs with Vodafone.RATING OUTLOOKStable rating outlook reflects the predictability of Vantage Towers revenues and EBITDA which supports Moody's expectation of the company's performance to be largely in line with its business plan over (at least) the next few years.FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE OR DOWNGRADE OF THE RATINGUpward rating pressure could develop over time if Vantage Towers (1) establishes a track record of operating as an independent company with continued growth in revenue and EBITDA, supported by improving tenancy ratios as well as an increasing share of revenues from customers other than Vodafone; and (2) conservatizes its financial policy leverage ceiling ratio from the current 5.5x (company reported net leverage) such that it can sustainably maintain Moody's adjusted gross leverage of around or below 4.75x.Downward rating pressure is likely if (1) the company significantly underperforms compared to its current business plan and medium term growth targets; (2) the credit quality of its key customer and majority owner, Vodafone, weakens sustainably; and (3) its Moody's adjusted gross leverage increases to over 6.0x on a sustained basis or its financial policy leverage ceiling ratio is revised to become more aggressive.PRINCIPAL METHODOLOGYThe principal methodology used in this rating was Communications Infrastructure Industry published in September 2017 and available at hxxps://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_1076924. Alternatively, please see the Rating Methodologies page on www.moodys.com for a copy of this methodology.COMPANY PROFILEHeadquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany, Vantage Towers AG is a leading tower infrastructure company in Europe with around 45,500 fully controlled macro sites, and further 14,200 and 22,100 co-controlled macro sites in Cornerstone Telecommunications Infrastructure Limited (Cornerstone) and Infrastrutture Wireless Italiane S.p.A (INWIT), respectively. The company has wholly-owned tower infrastructure in eight markets including Germany, Spain, Greece (subject to planned execution of call option in conjunction with the IPO), Portugal, Czech Republic, Romania, Hungary and Ireland. Vantage Towers owns a 33.2% equity stake in INWIT in Italy, with co-control rights under the terms of a shareholder agreement with Telecom Italia S.p.A, and a 50% stake in Cornerstone in the United Kingdom, again with co-control right under the terms of the shareholder
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03/2/2021
13:46		spud: Vodafone confident on outlook after return to growth http://www.sharecast.com/news/news-and-announcements/vodafone-confident-on-outlook-after-return-to-growth--7801143.html Organic service revenue rose 0.4% in the three months to the end of December to €9.36bn (£8.3bn) compared with a 0.4% drop in the previous quarter. Organic service revenue rose 1% to €2.91bn in Germany, the FTSE 100 telecoms group said in an update. Total revenue fell 4.7% to €11.2bn. Vodafone reaffirmed its guidance for annual earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of between €14.4bn and €14.6bn. Nick Read, Vodafone's chief executive, said: "I am pleased the group returned to service revenue growth in Q3 as a result of the continued commercial momentum across our business, including our largest market Germany. Our good trading performance underscores our confidence in the outlook for the full year." Growth in Germany, Vodafone's biggest market, helped offset declines in other European markets including a 7.8% drop in Italy and a 0.4% decline in the UK. Organic service revenue rose 3.3% at the Vodacom African business and 12.3% in other markets such as Turkey and India. Germany returned to growth after a 0.1% dip in the second quarter supported by higher variable usage during the coronavirus lockdown, a strong performance in business services and a smaller decline in roaming and visitor revenue. Revenues in other European countries were hit by reduced roaming income with travel at a minimum because of Covid-19 restrictions and increased price competition in markets such as Italy and Spain. Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said: "Any improvements in a company of Vodafone’s size are likely to be incremental, and the latest set of figures build on the progress being made. Less positively, total revenues are down, with the pandemic’s effect on roaming and visitor revenues an obvious drag. "Vodafone remains a cash generating behemoth … The dividend remains a key attraction and is comfortably affordable. The current yield of 6.2% is punchy and unusual in its size given the dividend restrictions which have been seen elsewhere." Vodafone shares rose 2.8% to 130.86p at 08:32 GMT. spud
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31/1/2021
12:51		muscletrade: Extract from Telegraph, nothing new but better than a sell recommendation. You would expect Vodafone, now a provider of internet access as well as mobile phones, to be holding up well during the pandemic. So it is – but the consequences of Covid-19 go beyond the millions of captive customers working from their kitchen tables. The profitability of mobile and broadband firms does not depend only on keeping customers happy: the decisions of regulators are important too. And the pandemic is changing the watchdogs’ attitude to Vodafone and its rivals across Europe, where the firm makes most of its money. Regulators and politicians have realised how much a locked-down economy depends on fast, reliable internet access in people’s homes. They, like the rest of us, also realise that working from home is here to stay even when the virus is defeated. They won’t get those fast, reliable networks if their price controls are so strict that broadband companies are denied a decent return. They also know that broadly speaking, consumers are not paying an excessive price for their broadband or their mobiles. So there are signs that they are beginning to loosen the reins a little, investors in the sector told this column. This alone should be enough to get investors to take another look at Vodafone, long a disappointment to the City. But more is going on. But these markets are still highly competitive and Vodafone, once a highly centralised organisation, has recognised that you have to respond to competition at the country level. So it now lets local managers decide how to react to developments in their markets. The advent of 5G will also encourage some customers to spend more in return for higher data speeds. Vodafone has also taken action to reduce costs. Customers who have problems are now able to deal with them themselves via apps – a less frustrating experience than hanging on for a call centre. So Vodafone can spend less on its call centres – and on its shops – and customers are happier, so they are more likely to remain loyal. “Churn” rates have fallen from 16pc to 13pc over the past three years. Hanging on to your customers is of course cheaper than acquiring new ones. Then there is what Vodafone is doing with its masts business. It has created a separate company called Vantage, which now owns 68,000 base stations. Vantage is due to list on the stock market, probably in Frankfurt, later this year and the proceeds will be used to reduce Vodafone’s debt pile, which is on the high side. We can hope for a boost to the shares as a result because institutional shareholders tend to shy away once debts exceed a certain level relative to profits. Vodafone will retain a controlling stake in Vantage for the moment at least, so that it can continue to decide where its masts are located. The company’s glory days of explosive growth are a long way behind it. The most shareholders can hope for is a gentle rise in profits as cost control, adroit pricing and operational efficiency come into their own. The end of travel restrictions, which have hobbled mobile firms’ normally lucrative roaming income, will also help. But it makes sense to buy the shares only if current levels of profitability are not being properly valued by the market. Key to this judgment is the dividend. The headline yield figure of 6.3pc looks attractive but the divi is only now starting to be covered by profits. If dividend cover were at the level often regarded as safe, namely two, the yield would be a less enticing if still useful 3pc or so. More positively, the fact that dividend cover is going in the right direction means that we need not fear a cut, even if any rise will probably have to wait for debt levels to fall further. Questor’s view when we last looked at the stock in May 2019 was that there was no reason for new investors to get on board, although there was equally no reason for existing holders to sell. Now, in view of the improving regulatory outlook and the hopes for improving profits, better dividend cover and falling debt, we will upgrade to buy. Questor says: buy Ticker: VOD
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18/1/2021
11:36		geckotheglorious: Vivek Badrinath, chief executive of Vantage Towers: 'I won't have Vodafone interfering in my life' Europe’s biggest mobile operator is selling off its masts under a new company called Vantage Towers When Vivek Badrinath was asked to leave Vodafone, on one level he was relieved. After three years jetting around the pre-pandemic world, selling off far-flung parts of the mobile empire as head of its non-European businesses, he was tired. “You spend two nights a week sleeping on a plane,” he recalls. “It’s the kind of job you do for some time and then at some point the music has to stop.” This was autumn 2019 and Vodafone’s chief executive, Nick Read, was asking Badrinath to lead his biggest sale yet on his way out. Saddled with too much debt from expanding its German broadband network, the operator needed to spin off and cash in its portfolio of 80,000 mobile masts across Europe. Badrinath leapt at the chance to lead the new company, now called Vantage Towers. “Nick came to see me in my office and said ‘Vivek I need to talk to you about something’. He told me about the opportunity and to think about it in the morning and by 5pm I was in his office telling him not to waste time thinking about other people for the role.” Little over a year later Vantage is almost ready to make its debut on the Frankfurt stock exchange at an expected valuation of more than €20bn (£17.8bn). Vodafone aims to capitalise on strong demand from investors for telecoms infrastructure assets, but it has been a tricky separation through the pandemic. “This is a startup that’s been born in a few hundred living rooms, home offices and children’s bedrooms,” says Badrinath. “And yet now we are coming to life.” Mobile operators themselves are out of favour with investors due to low growth and tight margins, under pressure from tough competition, tight regulation and the need for continuous investment in new equipment to meet demand for data. However companies who own the masts, or towers, on which that equipment sits are viewed as strong growth prospects with dependable, high-margin income from rent paid by their mobile operator tenants. Only in recent days Telxius, a mobile mast business spun out of the former Spanish state telecoms monopoly Telefonica, has been sold to an American towers specialist for €7.7bn, more than 30 times its trailing income. Last year in the UK the mobile masts arm of Arqiva, which rents access to all four operators, was acquired for £2bn. The buyer, Cellnex, went on to secure a €10bn pan-European takeover of masts owned by CK Hutchison, the owner of Three, including its UK sites. Vodafone’s UK masts, which are shared with rival O2, are to be rolled into Vantage under a deal thrashed out only last week. They will add €62m of annual earnings to take the total pot to €742m. At the same valuation maths as Telxius that would make Badrinath’s new venture worth getting on for €23bn. “The sector is exciting,” says the 51-year-old, who climbed the ranks of France’s former state operator, Orange, then made a detour into the hotel business with Accor, before joining Vodafone in 2016. “There is this big trend towards the commercialisation of towers and Europe is maybe 20 years behind the US.” Vodafone, Europe’s biggest mobile operator, played no small part in creating that gap. Its previous chief executive, Vittorio Colao, was a firm opponent of selling off what he saw as the family silver. Read clearly sees things differently, and Badrinath says the mobile world has changed such that owning and controlling masts is not so much of a competitive advantage. “It was a chief technology officer on the mobile side of Orange in 2004,” he says. “At that point in time the battle was probably still around coverage. “But once the main operators reached 90pc-plus coverage they lost the ability to differentiate just because they own a mast site. Now it is more efficient economically, operationally and for the environment to share the load of heavy duty infrastructure.̶1; Badrinath’s task is to convince more operators across its 10 European territories mobile industry to rent from it. While its relationship with Vodafone, which will remain a majority shareholder, is guaranteed, it needs to deliver growth by increasing the average number of tenants on each of its masts. The figure is currently 
less than 1.5. Vantage is confident the sheer demand for mobile data – he expects an increase of 2.4 times by 2025 – will boost occupancy. Developing 5G networks to cope will require denser patterns of masts, especially in cities, and sharing space will make sense for all. “It’s not just that we’re taking to the bank the number of contracts that we have for the existing networks,” says Badrinath. “There is growth for a number of reasons. There is absolutely no doubt that 5G will entail the need for more network and more capacity. Governments are selling spectrum on the condition that coverage is developed too.” Some mobile operators claim equipment breakthroughs have reduced the need for more masts, but even with its current 86pc revenue dependence on Vodafone, Vantage has more than 7,000 in the works. Badrinath says the question is one of timing, not need. “The need may not be instant,” he says. “Our model expects bigger densification after 2025, but it will come.” Following a court defeat for the European Commission’s competition watchdogs last year, hopes have risen among mobile operators that they may be allowed to consolidate via mergers. Such a wave might reduce the number of potential customers for Vantage over time, but Badrinath insists Vantage’s long, country-by-country Vodafone contracts and existing market structures would shield it. Vantage is not only depending on technological forces to deliver on high expectations for its independent future, anyway. Badrinath has been busy sharpening up its commercial operations, with a new sales staff to forge relationships with new customers. Meanwhile he plans to negotiate harder with the freeholders who it rents from. “What we have learned is we are good at managing masts from a technical point of view. We’ve been doing it for 25 years, so we should get no credit for that really. “Where we are not as good is on the commercial side and an area we can probably do better is landlord management. So I stood up a team and we’ve been hiring hungry commercial people from outside Vodafone. He or she doesn’t quite look like the nerdy, techie who is inside the operations.” For some Vodafone shareholders, the decision to list Vantage in Frankfurt rather than London is a disappointment. It reflects the company’s centre of gravity, however. It will have more than 19,000 German masts compared with a 50pc share in 14,200 in the UK, and most of its technical staff are based there. London stock exchange rules would also prevent a German corporation with less than 50pc of its shares in a free float from obtaining a premium listing, potentially cutting Vantage off from large pools of capital. “Germany was the most logical place to run this company from, that’s very clear,” says Badrinath, who will be overseen by chairman Rüdiger Grube, a veteran industrialist who “understands corporate governance and the need to give independence to the company in a very clear way”. “I won’t have Vodafone interfering in my life on operational and commercial decisions,” he adds, aware that potential new customers may be nervous of the link, at least at first. “We took care of that. It’s done, it’s put to bed.” It is perhaps a sign that as Badrinath and Vantage advance, Vodafone may be somewhat diminished.
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11/11/2020
16:41		grupo guitarlumber: Vodafone’s prospects and 7% dividend yield remain undervalued by Graeme Evans from interactive investor | 11th November 2020 15:07 Share on: The shares are up over 10% this week, but there should be much more to come, argues this expert. vod tower The potential for a re-rating of Vodafone (LSE:VOD) shares was raised today when a leading industry analyst signalled the mobile phone giant is over the worst of its revenues downturn. UBS's Polo Tang said next Monday's second-quarter and half-year results were likely to represent a low point, with Q2 service revenues set to be 2.3% lower due to the impact of travel bans on roaming activity. He expects a recovery in the current quarter to 1.2% lower and says shares should be trading at 188p, compared with the 116p seen this afternoon after a rally of 9% so far this week on the back of the Pfizer vaccine breakthrough. The FTSE 100 stock is still no better off than in August, with Vodafone and BT (LSE:BT.A) among telecom stocks shunned in the pandemic despite their exposure to working from home trends. Vodafone shares: 8% dividend yield and potential to double Vodafone: Q1 results and an IPO in 2021 Vodafone: the logic behind 80% share price upside explained Take control of your retirement planning with our award-winning, low-cost Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) Data usage on both mobile and fixed broadband continues to grow strongly, which should drive average revenues per user amid evidence that consumers are willing to pay more for services. The recent launch of a new 5G iPhone should stimulate demand, with Tang noting anecdotal evidence that Vodafone has performed relatively well in Germany, the UK and Netherlands. Tang thinks that the share price currently assumes no improvement in service revenues, leading to low-to-mid single digit annual earnings declines. He said: “While the shape of any recovery may not be linear, we see Vodafone as too cheap and see scope for the shares to re-rate as European service revenues recover.” The company has a loyal following among retail investors, based on factors such as its sheer size, cash generative ability and chunky dividend yield, which, at a projected 7.3% for 2020 trading, is attractive when many big companies have chosen not to pay out at all. UBS is not alone in thinking the company is undervalued, with Deutsche Bank recently highlighting a 230p price target based in part on the value of infrastructure assets and the prospect that the company will resume growth next year. A day after its Q2 update, Vodafone will shine a light on the broader value of the company's assets when it hosts a capital markets day for the planned Frankfurt IPO of Vantage Towers, which boasts 68,000 towers and leading positions in almost all of its nine markets. Vodafone: the logic behind 80% share price upside explained Take control of your retirement planning with our award-winning, low-cost Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) Deutsche analyst Robert Grindle said recently that deals elsewhere in the sector had given a favourable view on assets within Vodafone, which he calculated were the highest of the European telco large-caps and equivalent to 75% of enterprise value. UBS's Tang thinks that next week's guidance from Vodafone will continue to point to a broadly flat underlying earnings picture for the full year and free cash flow in the region of more than 5 billion euros. European service revenues are forecast to be down 3.5% in the second quarter, improving to a fall of 2.1% in the current quarter. Deutsche recently noted the biggest threats to the Vodafone recovery as increased competition, foreign exchange volatility and execution risk on recently acquired assets from Liberty Global, as well as longer term economic malaise due to Covid-19. These articles are provided for information purposes only. Occasionally, an opinion about whether to buy or sell a specific investment may be provided by third parties. The content is not intended to be a personal recommendation to buy or sell any financial instrument or product, or to adopt any investment strategy as it is not provided based on an assessment of your investing knowledge and experience, your financial situation or your investment objectives. The value of your investments, and the income derived from them, may go down as well as up. You may not get back all the money that you invest. The investments referred to in this article may not be suitable for all investors, and if in doubt, an investor should seek advice from a qualified investment adviser. Full performance can be found on the company or index summary page on the interactive investor website. Simply click on the company's or index name highlighted in the article.
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