Vodafone boss Margherita Della Valle said staff at its UK-facing division shouldn’t worry about job cuts this year, despite plans to axe 11,000 staff globally by mid-2026.
Profit for the first half of the year fell by two thirds to €550 million (£480 million), mostly due to business units sold off last year as part of a major turnaround plan. Della Valle, who took over as interim boss late last year before being appointed on a permanent basis, said that plan was “progressing... although much more needs to be done”. Revenue was down slightly, but ahead of analysts’ expectations, at €21.9 billion. In the UK, revenue was flat at €3.4 billion, though service revenue was up.
In May, Vodafone revealed the restructuring will mean the loss of 11,000 jobs over the next three years. 2,700 cuts have already been made.
While some of those losses have been at Vodafone's global HQ in Paddington, Della Valle suggested staff working for the Vodafone UK division should be some of the least affected, at least for now
“There’s nothing you should be worried about in the UK this year,” she told the Standard.
She noted that the process was three years, as well as highlighting the strength of the UK arm.
Other steps taken include a plan to merge Vodafone’s UK arm with Three, which awaits CMA approval, and the sale of its Spanish arm. Della Valle said she was confident of CMA approval, arguing that the deal would boost competition by creating a 5G network to rival O2 and EE.
AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould said: “Work is underway to restructure the group but don’t hold your breath for rapid change.”
Dan Ridsdale, director of TMT at Edison Group, said: “Vodafone's results contained no real surprises, though there are possibly some green shoots of a recovery with service revenue up 4.2%.”
The shares lost as much as 3.2p, or 4.1%, to 74.2p. They’re down 12.5% for the year.
