Vittorio Colao

Vodafone profits surge on Verizon exit but challenges remain

Vodafone has announced a huge leap in profits for the financial year to end March 2014, thanks largely to the sale of its stake in Verizon Wireless, completed earlier this year. Profit for the year stood at £59.42bn, up from £673m for the previous financial year. However, group revenues were down 1.9 per cent to £46.62bn, while service revenue was down 2.4 per cent to £39.53bn.

Ovum view: Investors to gain more than Vodafone from Verizon sale

On September 2, 2013, Vodafone and Verizon announced that they had reached an agreement for Vodafone to sell its 45 per cent stake in Verizon Wireless back to Verizon for $130bn. Ovum believes that the deal is good for both parties, but that the decision to return 65 per cent of the proceeds from the sale back to shareholders is short-sighted. It may make Vodafone CEO Vittorio Colao popular, but we don’t believe that he will have enough left to future proof the business.

Vodafone CEO calls for end of “free-ism”

UK-based mobile operator Vodafone was one of the earliest providers to call an end to the all you can eat data buffet and CEO Vittorio Colao believes more tiers are on the way.