LONDON, March 31, 2026, 20:03 BST
Vodafone Group Plc stepped up its share buyback on Tuesday, saying it had purchased 5.4 million ordinary shares from Goldman Sachs International for treasury under the plan launched in February. That was more than double the 2.7 million shares disclosed a day earlier. 1
The move lands on the last day of Vodafone’s financial year and keeps capital returns in focus while investors wait to see whether asset sales and the Three UK merger turn into steadier cash flow. In February, Vodafone said the current 500 million-euro buyback plan would run no later than May 11, after 3.5 billion euros of buybacks since May 2024. 2
Tuesday’s filing showed Vodafone paid an average 111.74 pence per share, with prices ranging from 110.95 pence to 112.35 pence. The stock will be held in treasury — shares a company holds on its own books and can later cancel or use for employee awards — leaving Vodafone with 1,239,755,127 treasury shares and 23,088,623,462 shares outstanding excluding treasury stock. 1
The buyback sits inside a broader overhaul. On March 23 Vodafone cancelled 549.6 million shares that had been sitting in treasury, and in February it agreed to sell its stake in Dutch joint venture VodafoneZiggo to Liberty Global for 1 billion euros in cash while keeping 10% of the enlarged Benelux business. Chief Executive Margherita Della Valle said that deal had been struck at an “attractive valuation” and offered “further value creation.” 3
Britain is the other big test. Vodafone and CK Hutchison completed the Three UK merger in June 2025, creating VodafoneThree, which the companies said would overtake BT’s EE and Virgin Media O2 to become market leader. Della Valle said in February the integration was making “very good progress” and that Vodafone expected “good growth” from the combination this year. 4
Still, the capital return is not a clean one-way reduction in the share count. Vodafone said last week it had applied to list 286.1 million new shares on or around March 31, with almost all tied to its 2023 employee incentive plan. Germany also remains difficult: Della Valle said “every quarter customer experience goes one step higher,” but added that “the market remains competitive.” 5
Vodafone reiterated in February that adjusted core earnings and free cash flow for the year ending March 31 should land at the upper end of guidance ranges of 11.3 billion to 11.6 billion euros and 2.4 billion to 2.6 billion euros. That is the backdrop to the buyback, and the question now is whether operational recovery catches up with the cash returned to investors. 6
Analyst Karen Egan at Enders Analysis said when the UK merger won approval that “three high quality networks instead of four inferior ones” would serve customers and businesses better. Tuesday’s filing was another small step in Vodafone’s effort to match that merger logic with visible cash returns for shareholders. 7
