London, May 18, 2026, 14:05 (BST)
Vodafone Group Plc shares edged higher in London on Monday, clawing back a small piece of last week’s selloff as investors weighed a stronger profit outlook against still-uneasy signs from Germany, the telecom group’s biggest market.
Delayed market data showed Vodafone quoted at 111.20p/111.25p, up 0.45p, or 0.41%. The stock had closed down 4.48% on Friday at 110.80p, after a volatile week in which it hit 122.05p on May 11 before sliding after results. HL
The move came during a normal London Stock Exchange session; the exchange’s published hours are 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. BST, and the next scheduled LSE holiday is May 25. The wider UK market was mixed: Reuters reported the FTSE 250 was lower on inflation and political worries, while the FTSE 100 was modestly higher earlier in the session. TradingHours
Why it matters now is simple. Vodafone’s turnaround trade has run hard, but last week’s results put the burden back on execution — not just disposals, mergers and buybacks.
Vodafone said full-year revenue rose 8.0% to €40.5 billion, while service revenue — money from telecom services rather than mainly handset sales — rose 8.8% to €33.5 billion. Adjusted EBITDAaL, a core profit measure after lease costs, rose 4.5% organically to €11.4 billion, and Chief Executive Margherita Della Valle said Vodafone was now “a simpler company with a stronger growth outlook.” Investegate
For the current year, the company guided to adjusted EBITDAaL of €11.9 billion to €12.2 billion and adjusted free cash flow — cash generation after operating and investment needs, before some selected items — of €2.6 billion to €2.9 billion. That is the number investors will keep coming back to. Investegate
Germany is the problem line. Vodafone said organic service revenue there fell 0.2% for the year, even though the fourth quarter returned to 1.3% growth, with mobile competition and the final impact of TV-law changes weighing on the business. Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, wrote that “Germany remains Vodafone’s toughest nut to crack,” adding that its branded business still had pressure on pricing and subscribers. HL
Britain gives Vodafone a cleaner growth story, at least on paper. The company has agreed to buy CK Hutchison’s 49% stake in VodafoneThree for £4.3 billion, taking full ownership of the UK’s largest mobile operator; the venture leapfrogged BT’s EE and O2, owned by Telefónica and Liberty Global, and is targeting £700 million of savings by fiscal 2030. Reuters
There was also a small governance signal around Germany. Vodafone said on Friday that Olaf Koch, former chief executive of Metro AG, would join as a non-executive director after the 2026 annual meeting, subject to shareholder approval. Chair Jean-François van Boxmeer said Koch’s experience in transformations and knowledge of the German market would help as Vodafone executes its strategy. Investegate
But the upside case can break. German mobile pricing may stay tough, VodafoneThree savings may arrive slower than planned, and debt could limit room for capital returns. Vodafone itself flagged trade, energy costs and foreign-exchange rates as uncertainties for the year ahead, and said restructuring and integration costs in FY27 were expected to peak at about €0.7 billion, including about €0.4 billion tied to VodafoneThree. Investegate
The share price still has repair work to do. At Monday’s level, Vodafone remained well below the 122.05p high touched a week earlier, though still far above its 52-week low of 70.90p. Investing
For now, Monday’s bounce is less a verdict than a pause. Investors have a simpler Vodafone in front of them; they still need proof that Germany, the UK integration and cash flow can all move in the same direction.
