Vodafone 2005 Annual Report Download - page 6

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Extending our global reach
We have continued to pursue selective opportunities to expand our geographic
footprint, with a particular focus on Central and Eastern Europe. In March, we
announced that we had entered into conditional agreements with TIW of Canada to
acquire 79% of the share capital of MobiFon S.A. in Romania, in which we already
have a 20% interest, and 100% of the share capital of Oskar Mobil a.s. in the Czech
Republic. Both companies are fast growing mobile operators that will benefit further
from the global services and scale benefits that Vodafone can deliver. We expect that
completion will take place before the end of June 2005.
In October, the merger of Vodafone Holdings K.K. and Vodafone K.K. in Japan was
completed following our successful tender offer to increase our shareholdings in both
companies. This clearly demonstrates our long-term commitment to the strategically
important mobile market in Japan. The merger has created a simplified company
structure which has already contributed towards greater operational effectiveness and
financial efficiencies and, although the business is currently not performing as well as
we would wish, I am confident that, in time, our investment will prove to be very
rewarding.
In December, we signed a Partner Network Agreement with SmarTone in Hong Kong,
bringing the number of our Partner Networks to fourteen. SmarTone, now fully
rebranded SmarTone-Vodafone, is one of Hong Kong’s leading mobile operators in
multimedia services.
Executing our strategic goals
Last year we outlined six strategic goals, designed then to ensure the delivery of
increased value to our customers and shareholders as we move into a new era in
mobile telecommunications. I believe we have made significant progress, particularly
with the consumer launch of 3G and the ongoing implementation of our One Vodafone
programme.
In November, we announced the full roll-out of our consumer 3G offering across
13 markets. This was an important step in our 3G strategy and followed the success
of the Vodafone Mobile Connect 3G/GPRS data card introduced in February last year.
The enhancements that 3G brings will enable us to build on the success we have
achieved with Vodafone live! since the service started in October 2002. We now have
almost 31 million active Vodafone live! users and have a total of 2.4 million 3G devices
registered on our networks.
Vodafone live! and Vodafone Mobile Connect are prime examples of how we offer
services that are focused on specific customer needs. The most recent examples of
this approach have been the launch of Vodafone Simply, which caters for those
customers who want an uncomplicated and straight-forward mobile experience, and the
simplification of our roaming tariffs with the introduction of Vodafone Travel Promise.
Our ability to launch common services across so many markets at the same time is
evidence of how Vodafone is beginning to deliver the advantages of scale and scope
and, in particular, shows the benefit of creating central marketing and technology
functions last year. We are building on these achievements through our One Vodafone
programme to drive further benefits from our global footprint.
Chairman’s Statement
4|Strategy
It is my pleasure to report another
year of achievement for your
company, with robust increases in
customer numbers, mobile revenue
and operating cash flow, enabling
us to substantially increase returns
to shareholders.
Share
Purchases
March 2005
March 2004
March 2003 £nil
£1.1bn
£4bn
4.07p per share
2.0315p per share
1.6929p per share
Dividends
per share
March 2005
March 2004
March 2003
Lord MacLaurin of Knebworth, DL Chairman