Sympathy for Vodafone, viewed over the long term, should be close to zero. This was a company that had the world at its feet at the turn of the century when it made itself global leader in telecoms via an audacious £100bn swoop on Mannesmann in Germany. A few tougher years followed but, even in 2013, Vodafone looked refreshed after the neatly-timed sale of the 45% stake in America’s biggest mobile phone business, Verizon Wireless, for the princely sum of $130bn (then £84bn).
Instead, what’s transpired is a share price that stands now near a 25-year low (Monday’s so-so trading update certainly wasn’t going to move the dial). For the past decade, the Vodafone empire has been in necessary retreat – but slowly. Margherita Della Valle became permanent chief executive in April last year promising to accelerate the deal-making and, to her credit, has announced big moves in two out of three big markets where investors were screaming for action. A disposal in Spain is happening and a merger with Three in the UK has been announced. (The Italian saga is more complicated.)
