Vodafone 2013 Annual Report Download - page 47

Overview Business review Performance Governance Financials Additional information
Please see page 179 for “Use of non-GAAP nancial information”,
page 187 for “Denition of terms” and page 185 for “Forward-
looking statements”.
Performance against 2013 nancial year guidance
Based on guidance foreign exchange rates1, and excluding M&A and
restructuring costs, our adjusted operating prot for the 2013 nancial
year was £12.3 billion, above the £11.1 billion to £11.9 billion range set
in May 2012.
On the same basis our free cash ow was £5.8 billion, at the top of the
range of £5.3 billion to £5.8 billion.
2014 nancial year guidance2
Adjusted
operating prot
£bn
Free cash ow
£bn
2014 nancial year guidance 12.0–12.8 Around 7.0
We expect adjusted operating prot to be in the range of £12.0 billion
to £12.8 billion. We expect free cash ow to be around £7.0 billion,
including the £2.1 billion VZW dividend due in June 2013. We expect
capex to remain broadly steady on a constant currency basis.
We expect the Group EBITDA margin, excluding M&A and restructuring
costs, to decline slightly year-on-year, reecting the ongoing weak
macroeconomic environment in Europe.
Dividend policy
After over 22% growth in the ordinary dividend per share over the last
three years, the Board is focused on continuing to balance the long-
term needs of the business with ongoing shareholder remuneration,
and going forward aims at least to maintain the ordinary dividend per
share at current levels.
Assumptions
We have based guidance for the 2014 nancial year on our current
assessment of the global macroeconomic outlook and assume foreign
exchange rates of £1:€1.17 and £1:US$1.52. It excludes the impact
of licences and spectrum purchases, additional income dividends from
VZW, material one-off tax-related payments, restructuring costs and
any fundamental structural change to the eurozone. It also assumes
no material change to the current structure of the Group.
Actual foreign exchange rates may vary from the foreign exchange rate
assumptions used. A 1% change in the euro to sterling exchange rate
would impact adjusted operating prot by £30 million and free cash
ow by approximately £20 million. A 1% change in the dollar to sterling
exchange rate would impact adjusted operating prot by approximately
£70 million.
Notes:
1 Guidance foreign exchange rates for the year ended 31 March 2013 were £1:€1.23 and £1:US$1.62.
2 For consistency with the basis of presentation of joint ventures in previous years, guidance does not take
into account the impact on the Group’s nancial results of adopting IFRS 11, Joint Arrangements, for the
year ending 31 March 2014.
Guidance
45 Vodafone Group Plc
Annual Report 2013