Vodafone Group Plc (LSE: VOD, NASDAQ: VOD) is a British multinational telecommunications company headquartered in London, United Kingdom.

It is the world's largest mobile telecommunications company measured by revenues and the world's second-largest measured by subscribers (behind China Mobile), with over 391 million subscribers as of September 2011. Vodafone owns and operates networks in over 30 countries and has partner networks in over 40 additional countries. It owns 45% of Verizon Wireless, the largest mobile telecommunications company in the United States measured by subscribers. The name Vodafone comes from voice data fone, chosen by the company to "reflect the provision of voice and data services over mobile phones". Vodafone has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It had a market capitalisation of approximately 89.4 billion as of 23 December 2011, the second-largest of any company listed on the London Stock Exchange.It has a secondary listing on NASDAQ.

Chairman 1. Sir John Bond, aged 69, became Chairman of Vodafone Group Plc in July 2006, having previously served as a non-executive director of the Board, and is Chairman of the Nominations and Governance Committee. He is Chairman of Xstrata plc and a non-executive director of A.P. Mller Mrsk A/S and Shui On Land Limited (Hong Kong SAR). He retired from the position of Group Chairman of HSBC Holdings plc in May 2006. Previous non-executive directorships include the London Stock Exchange plc, Orange plc, British Steel plc, the Court of the Bank of England and Ford Motor Company, US. He is also an advisor to Northern Trust in Chicago. Sir John will retire from the Board at the conclusion of the Companys AGM on 26 July 2011. Executive directors 2. Vittorio Colao, Chief Executive, aged 49, was appointed Chief Executive of Vodafone Group Plc after the AGM in July 2008. He joined the Board in October 2006 as Chief Executive, Europe and Deputy Chief Executive. The early part of his career was spent in the Milan office of McKinsey & Co working on media, telecommunications and industrial goods, with additional responsibility for recruitment. In 1996 he joined Omnitel Pronto Italia, which subsequently became Vodafone Italy, and was appointed Chief Executive in 1999. He was then appointed Regional Chief Executive Officer, Southern Europe for Vodafone Group Plc in 2001, became a member of the Board in 2002 and was appointed to the role of Regional Chief Executive Officer for Southern Europe, Middle East and Africa for Vodafone in 2003. In 2004 he left Vodafone to join RCS MediaGroup, the leading Italian publishing company, where he was Chief Executive until he rejoined Vodafone as Chief Executive Officer, Europe. He sits on the International Advisory Board of Bocconi University, Italy. 3. Andy Halford, Chief Financial Officer, aged 52, joined the Board in July 2005. He joined Vodafone in 1999 as Financial Director for Vodafone Limited, the UK operating company, and in 2001 he became Financial Director for Vodafones Northern Europe, Middle East and Africa region.

In 2002 he was appointed Chief Financial Officer of Verizon Wireless in the US and is currently a member of the Board of Representatives of the Verizon Wireless partnership. Prior to joining Vodafone he was Group Finance Director at East Midlands Electricity Plc. In December 2010 he was appointed as Chairman of The Hundred Group of Finance Directors in the UK. He holds a bachelors degree in Industrial Economics from Nottingham University and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. 4. Michel Combes, aged 49, Chief Executive Officer, Europe Region, was appointed to the Board in June 2009, having joined the Company in October 2008. He began his career at France Telecom in 1986 in the External Networks Division and then moved to the Industrial and International Affairs Division. After being technical advisor to the Minister of Transportation from 1991 to 1995, he served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of GlobeCast from 1995 to 1999. He was Executive Vice President of Nouvelles Frontieres Group from December 1999 until the end of 2001 when he moved to the position of Chief Executive Officer of Assystem-Brime, a company specialising in industrial engineering. He returned to France Telecom Group in 2003 as Senior Vice President of Group Finance and Chief Financial Officer. Until January 2006 he was Senior Executive Vice President, in charge of NExT Financial Balance & Value Creation and a member of the France Telecom Group Strategic Committee. From 2006 to 2008 he was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of TDF Group. He is President of the Supervisory Board of Assystem SA in France and serves as a non-executive director on the boards of ISS Equity A/S, ISS Holding A/S and ISS A/S. 5. Stephen Pusey, aged 49, Group Chief Technology Officer, joined Vodafone in September 2006 and was appointed to the Board in June 2009. He is responsible for all aspects of Vodafones networks, IT capability and research and development. Prior to joining Vodafone he held the positions of Executive Vice President and President, Nortel EMEA, having joined Nortel in 1982 where he gained a wealth of international experience across both the wireline and wireless industries and in business applications and solutions. Prior to Nortel, he spent several years with British Telecom.

Deputy Chairman and senior independent director 6. John Buchanan, aged 67, became Deputy Chairman and senior independent director in July 2006 and has been a member of the Board since April 2003. He retired from the board of directors of BP p.l.c. in 2002 after six years as Group Chief Financial Officer and executive director following a wide-ranging career with the company. He was a member of the United Kingdom Accounting Standards Board from 1997 to 2001. He is Chairman of Smith & Nephew plc, Senior Independent Director of BHP Billiton Plc, Chairman of The International Chamber of Commerce (UK) and is Chairman of the trustees for the UK Christchurch Earthquake Appeal. Previous non-executive directorships include AstraZeneca plc and Boots plc.

Type

Public limited company

Traded as

LSE: VODNASDAQ: VOD

Industry

Telecommunications

Predecessor(s)

Racal Telecom (1983 to 1991)

Founded

1991

Headquarters

London, United Kingdom,European Union

Area served

Worldwide

Key people

Gerard Kleisterlee (Chairman) Vittorio Colao (CEO)

Products

Fixed line and mobile telephony, Internet services, digital television

Revenue

45.884 billion (2011)[1]

Operating income 5.596 billion (2011)[1]

Profit

7.870 billion (2011)[1]

Total assets

151.22 billion (2011)[1]

Total equity

87.55 billion (2011)[1]

Employees

83,862 (March 2011)

SWOT ANALYSIS ON VODAFONE Vodafone Group plc is a global telecommunications company headquartered in Newbury, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest mobile telecommunications company measured by revenues and the world's second-largest measured by subscribers (behind China Mobile), with around 332 million proportionate subscribers as at 30 September 2010. It operates networks in over 30 countries and has partner networks in over 40 additional countries. It owns 45% of Verizon Wireless, the largest mobile telecommunications company in the United States measured by subscribers. The name Vodafone comes from voice data fone, chosen by the company to "reflect the provision of voice and data services over mobile phones".[7][non-primary source needed Its primary listing is on the London Stock Exchange and it is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It had a market capitalisation of approximately 92 billion as of November 2010, making it the third largest company on the London Stock Exchange.It has a secondary listing on NASDAQ. In 1980, Sir Ernest Harrison OBE, chairman of Racal Electronics plc's, the UK's largest maker of military radio technology, agreed a deal with Lord Weinstock of General Electric Company plc to allow Racal to access some of GEC's tactical battlefield radio technology. Briefing the head of Racal's military radio division Gerry Whent to drive the company into commercial mobile radio, Whent visited GE's factory in Virginia, USA in 1980. In 1982, Racal's newly formed subsidiary Racal Strategic Radio Ltd under CEO Whent, won one of two UK cellular telephone network licences; the other going to British TelecomThe network, known as Racal Vodafone was 80% owned by Racal, Millicom with 15% and Hambros Technology Trust 5% respectively. Vodafone was launched on 1 January 1985.Racal Strategic Radio was renamed Racal Telecommunications Group Limited in 1985. On 29 December 1986, Racal Electronics bought out the minority shareholders of Vodafone for GB110 million. Under stock market pressure to realise full value for shareholders (the mobile unit was being valued at the same amount as the whole Racal group), in September 1988, the company was again renamed Racal Telecom, and on 26 October 1988, Racal Electronics floated 20% of the company. The flotation valued Racal Telecom at GB1.7 billion.On 16 September 1991, Racal Telecom was demerged from Racal Electronics as Vodafone Group. In July 1996, Vodafone acquired the two thirds of Talkland it did not already own for 30.6 million. On 19 November 1996, in a defensive move, Vodafone purchased Peoples Phone for 77 million, a 181 store chain whose customers were overwhelmingly using Vodafone's network.In a similar move the company acquired the 80% of Astec Communications that it did not own, a service provider with 21 stores. In 1997, Vodafone introduced its Speechmark logo, as it is a quotation mark in a circle; the O's in the Vodafone logotype are opening and closing quotation marks, suggesting conversation. On 29 June 1999, Vodafone completed its purchase of AirTouch Communications, Inc. and changed its name to Vodafone Airtouch plc. Trading of the new company commenced on 30 June 1999.To approve the merger, Vodafone sold its 17.2% stake in E-Plus Mobilfunk. The acquisition gave Vodafone a 35% share of Mannesmann, owner of the largest German mobile network. On 21 September 1999, Vodafone agreed to merge its U.S. wireless assets with those of Bell Atlantic Corp to form Verizon Wireless.The merger was completed on 4 April 2000. Strengths * Diversified geographical portfolio with strong mobile telecommunications operations in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific and to some extent the US * Network infrastructure

* Leading presence in emerging markets such as India * Strong in Cities Weakness * Negative return on assets (ROA) underperform key competitors like AT&T, BT Group, Deutsche Telecom * US business not nearly as strong as European/rest of the world operations * 80% of its business is generate in Europe (see below for explanation) * No Network in Rural Areas Opportunities

Focus on cost reductions improving returns:Majority stake in Hutchison Essar in India :Research and development of new mobile technologies :Good Tarrif packages

Threats * * * * Highly competitive market Still lags behind major competitors in the US Extremely high penetration rates in key European markets European Union regulation on cross-border cell phone usage by customers

Latest 12 Months Data Items Latest Full Context Quarter Ending Date Current Ratio Quick Ratio Leverage Ratio Debt/Common Equity Ratio Price/Book Ratio (Price/Equity) Book Value per Share Total Debt/ Equity Long-Term Debt to Total Capital Working Capital per Share Cash per Share 2011/09 1.0 0.9 1.7 0.35 1.04 $26.23 0.43 0.26 $-0.06 $2.18

Cash Flow per Share Free Cash Flow per Share Tangible Book Value per Share Price/Cash Flow Ratio Price/Free Cash Flow Ratio Price/Tangible Book Ratio
Most recent data

$5.10 $0.12 $6.12 5.4 219.3 4.47

5-Year Averages Return on Equity Return on Assets Return on Invested Capital Gross Profit Margin Pre-Tax Profit Margin Post-Tax Profit Margin Net Profit Margin (Total Operations) R&D as a % of Sales SG&A as a % of Sales Debt/Equity Ratio Total Debt/Equity Ratio
Most recent data

4.8% 2.8% 3.6% 53.2% 14.3% 10.2% 9.9% 0.0% 15.8% 0.32 0.41

Price Earnings Ratios Current P/E Ratio P/E Ratio 1 Month Ago 11.3 11.2

P/E Ratio 26 Weeks Ago P/E as % of 2 Digit MG Group P/E P/E as % of 3 Digit MG Group P/E 12 Month Normalized P/E Ratio

10.8 84% 79% 6.4

Conclusion
Vodafone uses the capabilities of the mobile phone to bring value to both developing and developed economies. The impact of mobile technology on developed markets over recent years has been immense and has focused on providing added value to customers through new and improved functions and features. By comparison, the impact of technology on emerging markets such as Kenya has provided a real lifeline both to individuals and to small businesses. The mobile phone has helped economic development in emerging economies. With growth in the provision of mobile phones, Vodafone has enabled great improvements in facilitating the flow of money and information, which is vital for economic growth. By improving Kenya's telecommunications infrastructure and by providing the MPESA system, Vodafone has enabled more people to access and transfer money. This has also helped socially by helping people to take advantage of employment opportunities away from their home towns and villages.