LONDON, March 13, 2026, 13:45 GMT
Vodafone shares rose in London on Friday after the telecom group disclosed another day of share purchases under its current buyback. Market data showed the stock at 110.70 pence by around 13:30 in London, up from 107.80 pence at Thursday’s close. 1
The move matters because Vodafone is still about 8.5% below the 120.95-pence peak it touched on Feb. 18, even after gaining more than 45% over the past year. Investors are weighing whether buybacks, asset-sale cash and the UK merger can outweigh stubborn questions over Germany, the group’s biggest market. 1
Vodafone said on Friday it had bought 2 million ordinary shares on March 12 at an average 107.22 pence and would hold them in treasury. A filing a day earlier showed another 2 million shares were bought on March 11 at 107.14 pence, lifting treasury holdings to 1.7617 billion shares and leaving 23.116 billion shares outstanding, excluding treasury stock. 2
A buyback is when a company purchases its own stock, reducing the number of shares in the market. Vodafone launched the current 500 million-euro programme in February, when it said third-quarter revenue rose 6.5% and adjusted core earnings grew 2.3%, keeping full-year profit and free cash flow on course for the upper end of guidance. 3
Chief Executive Margherita Della Valle told analysts last month that Vodafone was “on track to deliver the upper end of our FY26 guidance.” The same call was more careful on Germany, with management saying second-half performance should improve but not turn positive there yet on an EBITDAaL basis, the measure Vodafone uses for core earnings. 4
The UK remains a big part of the investment case. VodafoneThree, the business created by Vodafone’s merger with Three and 51% owned by Vodafone, said it would invest 1.3 billion pounds in its network in the first year; Reuters reported the tie-up would overtake BT’s EE and Virgin Media O2 to become the mobile market leader, while management has said the first meaningful UK cost synergies should show up in fiscal 2027. 5
Vodafone also bolstered its cash position in February by agreeing to sell its 50% stake in VodafoneZiggo to Liberty Global for 1 billion euros in cash and a 10% holding in the planned Ziggo Group. Mike Fries, Liberty’s chief executive, called the combination a “regional powerhouse”, while Della Valle said the deal was struck at an “attractive valuation” and could bring “further value creation”. 6
But Germany still sets the tone. Vodafone shares fell more than 5% on Feb. 5 after German service-revenue growth of 0.7% missed some expectations, and Della Valle warned then that the market “remains competitive.” Management has also said the drag from Germany’s TV rule change will continue in the near term and that UK integration costs will come before the bigger savings land. 3
For now, Friday’s rise outpaced a modest move in the broader FTSE 100, which Reuters market data showed up about 0.17% at the time. Even so, Vodafone remains well below its February high, and management has told analysts it will return in May with a fuller update on Germany and the wider outlook. 7
