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Vodafone Group PLC on Tuesday said its annual performance slowed in line with its expectations, as it plans to cut 11,000 jobs. Shares were down 2.6% at 87.70 pence each in London, making it the worst-performing FTSE-100 firm on Tuesday morning. In the financial year ended on March 31, the Newbury, England-based telecommunications company said revenue was virtually flat year-on-year, up just 0.3% to €45.71 billion from €45.58 billion the year before. This is compared with a maximum expected revenue of €45.86 billion. The firm said this was driven by growth in Africa and higher equipment sales, offset by lower European service revenue and ‘adverse exchange rate movements’. Pretax profit jumped to €12.82 billion from €4.10 billion, largely due to a gain on the disposal of Vantage Towers. Operating profit surged to €14.30 billion from €5.81 billion the year before, as basic earnings per share rose to 42.77 cents from just 7.71 cents. Total dividends for the year were unchanged at 9 euro cents, including a 4.5 cents final dividend. This is in line with company consensus. In the first half of financial 2023, Vodafone held its interim dividend at 4.50 cents per share. Following a five-month strategic review, Vodafone announced an ‘action plan’ to focus on ‘customers, simplicity and growth’. ‘ ‘Our performance has not been good enough. To consistently deliver, Vodafone must change,’ said Chief Executive Officer Margherita Della Valle. Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation after leases amounted to €14.67 billion, down 3.6% from €15.21 billion the year before. The simplicity element of the plan will involve cutting 11,000 jobs in the next three years. In financial 2024, Vodafone guides for adjusted Ebitda after leases to be broadly flat at around €13.3 billion, with adjusted free cash flow to be around €3.3 billion. Copyright 2023 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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