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Vodafone Drops on Network Investment Plan’s Cash Flow Hit

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Thomas Seal
·2 min read
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(Bloomberg) --

Vodafone Group Plc shares fell as much as 8.3% after Chief Executive Officer Nick Read’s strategy showed higher capital expenditure on network investments will hit free cash flow.

Although Read’s message is “spend more to grow more,” the “prospect of the improved growth may take longer for investors to absorb,” said Berenberg analyst Carl Murdock-Smith.Vodafone said it can increase margins in the medium-term and guided for adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization after leases between 15 billion and 15.4 billion euros ($18.8 billion) in 2022, with adjusted free cash flow of at least 5.2 billion euros.Organic service revenue rose 0.8% in the fourth quarter versus an average analyst estimate of 0.4% compiled by Bloomberg.

Key Insights

Read wants to do more with less. He’s sold some of the telecom group’s farther-flung units like New Zealand while cutting costs and consolidating operations in Europe and Africa.The centerpiece of this asset-squeezing strategy has been carving out and listing Vodafone’s masts in the form of Vantage Towers AG, which reported earnings in line with guidance on Monday.The Newbury, England-based telecom group will focus on fixed and mobile connectivity in Europe, and mobile data and payments in Africa, the company said in a statement Tuesday. That will mean upgrading fixed and wireless networks.In Africa, the group had 84.9 million data users and mobile money platform M-Pesa handled 15.2 billion transactions in 2021, an increase of 25%.Vodafone has been the subject of press reports and speculation about potential consolidation deals as rivals around Europe merge: Liberty Global Plc is set to combine its U.K. operations with Telefonica SA’s O2, while Spanish rival Masmovil Ibercom SA is snapping up Euskaltel SA.

Market Context

Vodafone shares have risen 5.4% in the 12 months to Tuesday versus a 13.1% rise in the Stoxx Europe 600 Telecommunications Index.Of 26 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, 23 rate Vodafone buy, 1 hold and 2 sell.

Get More

StatementNOTE, May 17: Vantage Towers FY Adj. EBITDA AL EU524M Vs. EU513M Y/yNOTE, Apr. 30: Ethiopia Pledges to Allow Mobile Money for New Telecom Entrants

(Updates with analyst reaction, shares, and M-Pesa details)

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©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

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