London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Oct 29, 2025

Vodafone CEO to leave after frustrating four years for shareholders

Vodafone CEO to leave after frustrating four years for shareholders

Nick Read will step down as Vodafone (VOD.L) chief executive by the end of the year, ending a four-year tenure during which the British telecom group's share price has nearly halved.

Once one of the biggest mobile operators in the world, Vodafone has been selling assets to focus on Europe and Africa, but the deals have not arrested its stock's decline.

Vodafone's board was unhappy with Read's lack of progress in delivering growth and has tasked his interim replacement, finance director Margherita Della Valle, with accelerating "the execution of the company's strategy to improve operational performance and deliver shareholder value".

The company warned on profit last month as energy costs soared, an already poor performance in its biggest market Germany worsened, and intense competition in Spain and Italy showed no sign of easing.

Read had pinned his hopes on the consolidation of Europe's fragmented telecoms markets but he struggled to turn intention into action. With the economic outlook darkening, the window for deals may be closing, analysts said.

Vodafone was outmanoeuvred in Spain when Orange and MasMovil agreed to merge in July, while there has been no answer to its Italian problem since it rejected an offer for its business there from French telecoms billionaire Xavier Niel's Iliad and Apax Partners in February.

Read did extract value from Vodafone's mobile towers by spinning them out and selling a chunk of the listed company to private equity firms Global Infrastructure Partners and KKR, and recently agreed to sell its Hungarian business.

Vodafone is also in talks to merge with Hutchison's Three in Britain, but it will be a race to get the deal over the line before Read leaves.

The towers deal and the UK talks were not enough to placate shareholders, however, who are focused on Vodafone's ability to navigate tougher economic conditions.

Vodafone's shares, which have fallen 45% since Read took over in October 2018, are trading just off two-decade lows.

"I agreed with the board that now is the right moment to hand over to a new leader who can build on Vodafone's strengths and capture the significant opportunities ahead," Read said.

Vodafone shares underperform


HEADWINDS

Vodafone's shares gave up early gains to trade 0.2% lower in afternoon deals.

"The next question is what solutions are really available to the next CEO?" Jefferies analysts wrote.

Vodafone faces "intractable headwinds", they said, adding that dividend policy should be treated as under review.

Niel, who bought a 2.5% stake in Vodafone in September, said in an emailed statement: "A change of CEO only makes sense if the new CEO has a clear roadmap from the board of directors."

He said the roadmap should include streamlining Vodafone, selling infrastructure to reduce debt, driving cash generation and improving margins and focusing on broadband in Germany.

He said his vehicle, Atlas Investissement, was ready to help the board design the best possible roadmap.

Read, 58, cut Vodafone's dividend for the first time in 2019, citing a worsening outlook, and need to cut debt and invest in networks.

The shares are supported by a dividend yield of more than 8%, but its forecast of around a 300 million euro fall in free cash flow this year worried investors.

Read, however, said last month the dividend was "intrinsically" linked to Vodafone's mid-term growth ambition.

The board has begun the search for new CEO, the company said.

Della Valle, who will receive the same base salary as Read, would be considered if she put her name forward, analysts said.

Read, who has spent more than 20 years at Vodafone and who will remain as an adviser until March, will receive his base pay of just over a million pounds until end-March 2023, and an amount in lieu of his salary for the remainder of his 12-month notice period, Vodafone said.

He will also receive up to 7,000 pounds for legal fees related to his departure and up to 50,000 pounds of "outplacement support", it added.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
China and Russia Deploy Seductive Espionage Networks to Infiltrate U.S. Tech Sector
Apple’s ‘iPhone Air’ Collapses After One Month — Another Major Misstep for the Tech Giant
Graham Potter Begins New Chapter as Sweden Head Coach on Short-Term Deal
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa Alleges Poison Plot via Chocolate and Jam
×