Vodafone shares hit three-year low: "Mark Tran and agencies
Monday February 27, 2006


Shares in Vodafone today came under pressure after the mobile phone operator said its assets were overvalued by up to �28bn.
Vodafone fell by as much as 6.4% - a three-year low - as it admitted its revenue growth was likely to slow. It later recovered some of the losses.
The world's biggest mobile phone operator said it was writing off between �23bn and �28bn on the value of its operations in Germany, Italy and possibly Japan.
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It said most of the write-down was attributable to its German operations.
Vodafone acquired its German assets as a result of the controversial �178bn (�121.2bn) hostile takeover of Mannesmann in 2000, when telecoms shares were at their peak.
'We see the recent changes to the competitive landscape in Germany as more pronounced against our historic expectations than for any of our other major markets,' Arun Sarin, the chief executive, told reporters.
In other bad news for Vodafone shareholders, the company lowered its revenue forecasts.
It predicted mobile revenues growth - excluding acquisitions and disposals - of between 5% and 6.5% in the year to March 31 2007, compared with forecasts of 6% to 9% for the current financial year.
Vodafone also blamed tougher regulation for cuts to termination rates - the price mobile phone firms charge each other and landline operators for putting callers through to their customers.
Today's news will put further pressure on Mr Sarin, who has come under fire after Vodafone shares dropped steadily in the past year. However, he said he had the full support of the board.
He has come under heavy criticism for holding on to the company"