LONDON, March 11, 2026, 16:10 GMT
- Vodafone traded around 107.25p on Wednesday, below the 108.40p average price it paid for Tuesday’s 2 million-share buyback. 1
- The stock is still about 10.8% below its Feb. 18 high, despite the 1 billion euro VodafoneZiggo deal and 3.5 billion euros of buybacks already completed. 2
- Investors remain focused on Germany, VodafoneThree execution and a softer FTSE 100 backdrop. 3
Vodafone Group Plc shares slipped in London on Wednesday, falling below the average price the company itself paid in its latest buyback, a sign that capital returns alone are not yet enough to lift the stock. The shares changed hands around 107.25 pence, down 0.56% on a 20-minute delayed basis, while a filing showed Vodafone bought 2 million shares on March 10 at a volume-weighted average of 108.40 pence. 1
That matters because Vodafone had rallied hard into mid-February after Liberty Global agreed to buy its 50% stake in VodafoneZiggo for 1 billion euros in cash. Chief Executive Margherita Della Valle called the sale an “attractive valuation” with room for “further value creation,” but Tuesday’s close of 107.85 pence still left the shares 10.8% below their Feb. 18 52-week high of 120.95 pence, FT data showed. 2
Investors are now looking past disposals and buybacks to the harder part of the story. On its Feb. 5 trading update, Vodafone said third-quarter revenue rose 6.5% and adjusted EBITDAaL — its measure of core operating profit that includes lease costs — rose 2.3%, keeping it on track for the upper end of full-year profit and cash-flow guidance, but the stock still fell more than 5% that day after Germany’s 0.7% revenue growth came in a touch light. 4
Wednesday’s weakness also came in a softer London market. The FTSE 100 was down 0.6% by 1103 GMT as oil traded above $90 a barrel and investors worried that Middle East-driven energy costs would keep inflation sticky, Reuters reported. 5
Vodafone’s latest filing put the mechanics in sharper relief. The company said it paid between 107.80 pence and 108.85 pence for Tuesday’s 2 million-share purchase and, after the trade, held about 1.758 billion shares in treasury — stock it owns itself and can later cancel or reissue. 6
The current tranche can run until no later than May 11, 2026 and is being executed by Goldman Sachs International. When Vodafone launched the 500 million euro programme in February, it said the sole purpose was to reduce share capital, in effect shrinking the share count; its investor site said buybacks had already reached 3.5 billion euros by the start of this tranche. 7
Della Valle has said the operating backdrop is improving, even if the market wants more proof. She told Reuters in February that in Germany “every quarter customer experience goes one step higher,” and said of the UK after the Three tie-up, “We expect to see good growth this year.” 3
Competitive pressure has not eased. Virgin Media O2 launched Europe’s first smartphone satellite service on Feb. 26, Orange said on March 2 it had teamed with AST SpaceMobile and Vodafone-backed Satellite Connect Europe on direct-to-cell services, and Vodafone separately said it was “looking to space” as it turns to Amazon’s Leo network to connect remote 4G and 5G masts in Europe and Africa, with Germany first in line this year. 8
Vodafone has said it has clear line of sight on 700 million pounds of annual cost and capital expenditure synergies from VodafoneThree. But if Germany stays patchy or the UK merger takes longer than expected to turn scale into cash flow, the buyback may cushion the stock more than rerate it. 9
For now, investors look cautious. Buybacks are shrinking the share count, but Wednesday’s trade kept Vodafone near this week’s 106 to 108 pence band rather than back toward the February peak. 1
