LONDON (Thomson Financial) - The telecoms regulator on Thursday fined the Greek unit of UK mobile giant Vodafone 19.1 mln eur for violating network regulations in a wire-tapping scandal that rocked the country last year.

The fine is the second handed to Vodafone Hellas over the case after a 76 mln eur penalty levelled by Greece's communication privacy watchdog last December.

Some 100 Vodafone cellphones in February 2006 were found to have been compromised by an illicit network that tapped sets used by Greek Premier Costas Karamanlis, his wife and several ministers from June 2004 to March 2005.

The tapping used software slipped into Vodafone's network by unknown perpetrators to illegally activate an Ericsson-made module permitting call interception.

On Thursday, the national telecommunications regulator EETT accused Vodafone of breaching regulations on the protection of telecommunications privacy, network maintenance and quality, and consumer protection.

The company rejected last December's fine as 'illegal, unfair and baseless.'

A Greek parliament committee collecting evidence on the case last November noted the involvement of three employees of telecoms giants Ericsson Hellas and Vodafone Greece, identified only by their initials.

'The whole system could not operate without Ericsson know-how and without access from within (Vodafone),' the report said.

The Greek branch of Swedish telecom equipment giant Ericsson has also been fined 7.36 mln eur over the case.

The parliamentary committee did not rule out the involvement of other people operating outside Greece.

The Greek justice department has opened an investigation into the case but nobody has yet been charged.

Days before the affair came to light, a senior Vodafone expert was found hanged inside his home.

The death of Costas Tsalikidis, manager of Vodafone Greece's network planning section, was linked to the case and his family suspects he was murdered.

I have topped up again today gone all in on this one.

skin yes she is .

switching off going out market will be crap today

Final Results.

VODAFONE ANNOUNCES RESULTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2011

Improved results: sustained revenue growth and strong cash generation

Group revenue up 3.2% to 45.9 billion; full year organic service revenue growth +2.1%(*); Q4 +2.5%(*), driven by a strong AMAP performance (+11.8%(*))

EBITDA down 0.4% at 14.7 billion; EBITDA margin 1.1 percentage points lower at 32.0%, in line with expectations

Verizon Wireless service revenue up 5.8%(*); our share of profits up 8.5%(*) to 4.6 billion

Adjusted operating profit at guidance exchange rates(1) 12.2 billion, after Verizon Wireless iPhone launch costs

Other net income of 5.3(2) billion and goodwill impairment charges of 6.1 billion

Free cash flow 7.0 billion; consistent level of capital expenditure and strong working capital performance

Final dividend 6.05 pence, giving total dividends for the year of 8.90 pence per share, + 7.1%

vod to annouce 60 percent rise in profits ....... unless i can't read, sounds that you were given a bum steer

A final dividend of 6.05p will be paid, giving total dividends for the year of 8.9p per share, up 7.1%.

courtesy of reuters ..... sorry, but haven't precis(ed) for once

LONDON, May 17 (Reuters) - Vodafone , the world's largest mobile operator by revenue, issued a bullish outlook for 2012 on Tuesday after posting resilient full-year results boosted by customers upgrading to smartphones.

Analysts had expected the British firm to post a cautious outlook after recent weak trading updates from rivals, but instead Vodafone said it was gaining or holding market share in most of its major markets and leading the switch to higher tariff smartphones.

The group did note that it faced tough conditions in southern Europe and also expected regulatory cuts to continue to bite, but issued financial targets for 2012 in line with forecasts.

The upbeat outlook followed solid financial results for 2010/11, with revenues of 45.9 billion pounds ($74.45 billion), up 3.2 percent and compared with a Reuters I/B/E/S poll of analysts predicting 45.5 billion pounds.

Core earnings were in line with forecasts, down 0.4 percent, but free cash flow was at the top of the range at 7.05 billion pounds, compared with a forecast of 6.7 billion pounds.

The closely watched metric of service revenue, which covers ongoing offerings such as voice, data, texts and Internet access but not one-off costs like handsets, was ahead of forecasts in the fourth quarter, up 2.5 percent on an organic basis and in line with third quarter growth.

cynic it was in sunday paper . i amvery happy with results nice divs better than any bank account over 5 percent .will hold these for long term

Tanker/cynic - if anyone is that bothered, the "rant" originated here.

Nice one VOD

anyway, one way or another, the market likes the numbers and sp is ticking upwards ..... and i have a confession; i actually bought some yesterday (167.20), but decided to keep quiet until after the event ...... naughty cynic!

Bernard M - 16 May 2011 08:52 - 95 of 105
I have topped up again today gone all in on this one.

cynic . BARC is cheap BD as got to return barcs back to over 400p or he will have to step down that is what he said in a round about way returns to holders are unexceptable he now has 7 months left to do it . so i am buying

thanks tanks ..... i've got RBS for my sins .,... meanwhile, VOD chart below shows nice break back above 200 dma with next resistance at about 172.5 with 25 dma

A nice steady rise to about 185p will do me....worth more than div.

cynic . remember fund managers only buy at the higher level they will buy at 185p .they are useless that is why people putting money in to pensions are fools

chuckle chuckle ..... you don't like those boys much do you ..... nor do i!

cynic . i just feel sorry for the folk buying in to pension funds and getting rubbish returns and the useless F/M getting paid

have bought a load more TW.

Tank is correct about those bandits. Most of them have less idea about stocks than guys on BB's

I would let Tabby be my fund manager.