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400 jobs to go at Vodafone as phone giant rings up a pounds 14.85bn loss(Western Mail Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)Mobile phone giant Vodafone unveiled record annual losses of pounds 14.85bn yesterday and said it planned to cut 400 jobs at its headquarters in Newbury. The massive bottom-line deficit is a record for a UK firm and was caused by the company writing down the value of its assets, including the worth of its pounds 100bn acquisition of Germany's Mannesmann in 2000. The company also announced a plan to cut costs through outsourcing and the reduction of group overheads, including the loss of 400 jobs at its corporate centre in Newbury, Berkshire. Vodafone wrote down pounds 23.5bn in its accounts, but ahead of that it achieved profits of pounds 8.79bn for the year to March 31, compared with pounds 7.8bn a year earlier. The bottom-line figure of pounds 14.85bn compares with the previous low from the company of pounds 13.54bn in 2002, when it also reported a number of non-cash exceptional items. Chief executive Arun Sarin said the underlying performance of the group remained good after outperforming its competitors in an 'increasingly challenging marketplace'. He also outlined an updated strategy for the business as Vodafone looks to tackle slowing revenue growth from its existing mobile operations and also address the impact of competition from broadband. As well as growth in emerging markets and the reduction of costs, Vodafone said it would look to target new sources of revenue, including through packages to meet customers' growing voice and broadband data service needs. It will start with a homezone tariff that allows mobile customers to take advantage of low-cost calls if they are near home. Vodafone also envisaged a lower level of merger and acquisition activity, with Mr Sarin setting out the requirements for the addition of any new assets. He said, 'The pace of change in our market has been accelerating. We must adapt to keep our competitive advantage.' As well as the reduction of overheads at Newbury, Vodafone said it would lower costs through outsourcing, including savings of up to 30% over three to five years in information technology and maintenance activities. Consolidation of its data centres will also provide savings of between 25% and 30% within the same timeframe, against a pounds 320m annual cost yesterday. |