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6Vodafone Group Plc Annual Report 2006
Lord MacLaurin of Knebworth, DL
Chairman’s Statement
My last year as Chairman of Vodafone has been a watershed in the history of your Company.
We have been undergoing significant change whilst operating in the most challenging
market environment the telecommunications sector has seen. Nevertheless, our ability
to deliver good growth in the face of increasing competition reflects the unique
characteristics of our business, compared to many other mobile operators, particularly
the benefits derived from our increasing exposure to faster-growing markets and the
opportunity to generate further benefits from our scale.
We maintained strong customer growth across many of our markets and grew our
proportionate mobile customer base to over 170 million, representing organic growth
of 15% since last year. Importantly, we achieved our 10 million 3G target, which included
Japan, during March, which was ahead of plan.
Over the year, we have announced total returns to shareholders of £19.2 billion. We have
purchased over 4.8 billion shares in the Company at a cost of £6.5 billion and are paying
out £3.7 billion in dividends for the year, including the proposed final dividend of 3.87 pence
per share. We are also returning £9.0 billion to shareholders, including £6.0 billion following
the sale of our Japanese business. Full details are in the documentation accompanying
this Report.
When I became Chairman in July 1998 we had fewer than 6 million customers in
12 countries producing some £2.5 billion of turnover. In the summer of 1999, we acquired
AirTouch of the US, followed in 2000 by the acquisition of Mannesmann in Germany.
This was a period of huge expansion which formed the basis of the transformation of
Vodafone into the world’s leading mobile telecommunications group that has equity
interests in 26 countries across five continents with over 170 million proportionate
customers worldwide, as well as 32 partner networks, generating turnover this year from
our ongoing businesses of over £29 billion. Not only have we extended our geographic
reach but we have also transformed our industry by becoming a leader in innovation,
introducing groundbreaking services such as Vodafone live! with 3G, thereby setting
standards for the mobile industry as a whole. It has been a remarkable achievement.
It has been my privilege
to be the Chairman of a
company that has proved
to be one of the outstanding
international success stories
of the last decade.