Vodafone 2003 Annual Report Download - page 26

Vodafone Group Plc Annual Report & Accounts and Form 20-F 2003
24
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This document contains “forward-looking statements”within the meaning of the
US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 with respect to the Group’s
financial condition, results of operations and businesses and certain of the
Group’s plans and objectives with respect to these items. In particular, forward-
looking statements include statements with respect to Vodafone’s expectations
as to launch and roll-out dates for products and services, including, for example,
3G services, Vodafone live! and Mobile Office from Vodafone; the ability to
integrate operations throughout the Group in the same format and on the same
technical platform; the development and impact of new mobile technology,
including the expected benefits of GPRS, 3G and other services and demand for
such services; the completion of Vodafone’s brand migration programme and the
results of its brand awareness and brand preference campaigns; growth in
customers and usage, including improvements in customer mix; future
performance, including turnover, ARPU, cash flows, costs, capital expenditures
and improvements in margin, non-voice services and their revenue contribution;
the rate of dividend growth by the Group or its existing investments; expected
effective tax rates and expected tax payments; the ability to realise synergies
through cost savings, revenue generating services, benchmarking and
operational experience; future acquisitions, including increases in ownership in
existing investments and pending offers for investments; future disposals; mobile
penetration and coverage rates; expectations with respect to long term
shareholder value growth; our ability to be the mobile market leader, overall
market trends and other trend projections.
Forward-looking statements are sometimes, but not always, identified by their
use of a date in the future or such words as “anticipates”, “aims”, “could”,
“may”, “should”, “expects”, “believes”, “intends”, “plans”or “targets”. By their
nature, forward-looking statements are inherently predictive, speculative and
involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on
circumstances that will occur in the future. There are a number of factors that
could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those
expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These factors include,
but are not limited to, the following:
•changes in economic or political conditions in markets served by operations
of the Group that would adversely affect the level of demand for mobile
services;
•greater than anticipated competitive activity requiring changes in pricing
models and/or new product offerings or resulting in higher costs of acquiring
new customers or providing new services, or slower customer growth or
reduced customer retention;
•the impact on capital spending from investment in network capacity and the
deployment of new technologies, or the rapid obsolescence of existing
technology;
• slower customer growth or reduced customer retention;
•the possibility that technologies, including mobile Internet platforms, and
services, including 3G services, will not perform according to expectations or
that vendors’ performance will not meet the Group’s requirements;
•changes in the projected growth rates of the mobile telecommunications
industry;
•the Group’s ability to realise expected synergies and benefits associated with
3G technologies, the integration of our operations and those of recently
acquired companies, the completion of the Group’s brand migration
programme and the consolidation of IT systems;
•future revenue contributions of both voice and non-voice services offered by
the Group;
•lower than expected impact of GPRS, 3G and Vodafone live! and Mobile
Office from Vodafone on the Group’s future revenues, cost structure and
capital expenditure outlays;
•the ability of the Group to harmonise mobile platforms and any delays,
impediments or other problems associated with the roll-out and scope of 3G
technology and services and Vodafone live! and Mobile Office from Vodafone
in new markets;
•the ability of the Group to offer new services and secure the timely delivery of
high-quality, reliable GPRS and 3G handsets, network equipment and other
key products from suppliers;
•greater than anticipated prices of new mobile handsets;
• the ability to realise benefits from entering into partnerships for developing
data and Internet services and entering into service franchising and brand
licensing;
•the possibility that the pursuit of new, unexpected strategic opportunities may
have a negative impact on one or more of the measurements of the Group’s
financial performance and may affect the level of dividends;
•any unfavourable conditions, regulatory or otherwise, imposed in connection
with pending or future acquisitions or dispositions;
•changes in the regulatory framework in which the Group operates, including
possible action by the European Commission regulating rates the Group is
permitted to charge;
•the Group’s ability to develop competitive data content and services which
will attract new customers and increase average usage;
•the impact of legal or other proceedings against the Group or other
companies in the mobile telecommunications industry;
•changes in exchange rates, including particularly the exchange rate of the
pound to the euro, US dollar and the Japanese yen;
•the risk that, upon obtaining control of certain investments, the Group
discovers additional information relating to the businesses of that investment
leading to restructuring charges or write-offs or with other negative
implications; and
• loss of suppliers or disruption of supply chains.
Furthermore, a review of the reasons why actual results and developments may
differ materially from the expectations disclosed or implied within forward-looking
statements can be found under “Risk Factors”below. All subsequent written or
oral forward-looking statements attributable to the Company or any member of
the Group or any persons acting on their behalf are expressly qualified in their
entirety by the factors referred to above.