London, June 19, 2026, 16:06 BST
- Vodafone shares were down 1.24% at 107.35 pence as of 16:02 BST. The FTSE 100 dropped 0.39% and BT slipped 0.26% in the same period.
- The shares dropped 7.43% in the last five sessions, cutting their gain for the year to 8.36%.
- Vodafone filed to register $3.5 billion in new notes on June 18, with maturities set for 2031, 2036, and 2056.
Vodafone Group shares dropped Friday, putting the stock on track for its fifth loss in a row as worries about its debt and its business in Germany weighed. Historical prices showed declines every day since Monday.
Vodafone now moves from cleaning up its portfolio to execution mode. After selling assets and tying up its UK arm with Three, management has to prove that bigger scale and earnings growth can throw off enough cash to handle integration, more deals and debt, all while keeping returns to shareholders steady.
Vodafone has priced $1 billion of 4.8% notes due 2031, $1 billion of 5.35% notes due 2036, and $1.5 billion of 6.1% notes due 2056, according to a regulatory filing. The company expects to raise about $3.47 billion, saying in the filing the money will go to general corporate purposes. The notes are unsecured, with no assets pledged, and will rank equally with Vodafone’s other senior unsecured debt.
Vodafone hasn’t labeled the bonds as acquisition financing, but the deal lands ahead of its planned £4.3 billion buyout of CK Hutchison’s 49% in VodafoneThree. That deal is scheduled to close in the back half of 2026. Vodafone’s net-debt ratio is set to rise 0.4 times to about 2.6 times after the deal, with the company aiming for the lower end of its 2.25-to-2.75 target.
Germany is still Vodafone’s weakest spot. Barclays downgraded the stock to “equal weight” from “overweight” last week and dropped its price target to 110 pence from 120 pence. The bank pointed to ongoing loss in Vodafone’s biggest market. Vodafone Germany shed a net 103,000 contract mobile subscribers and 202,000 fixed-broadband customers in the 2026 financial year, Barclays said. Investing.com UK
Analysts are still far apart on Vodafone. Deutsche Bank’s Robert Grindle kept his “buy” call on Monday, but cut his target to 150 pence from 155 pence. That’s still much higher than Barclays, which sits at 110 pence. The divide sums up the main debate: can Vodafone’s UK scale and African growth make up for weakness in Germany fast enough? MarketScreener
Vodafone said adjusted EBITDAaL came in at €11.4 billion for fiscal 2026, with adjusted free cash flow at €2.6 billion. Net debt moved up to €25.4 billion from €22.4 billion. EBITDAaL is operating profit after leases, excluding interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation. The company guided fiscal 2027 EBITDAaL in a range of €11.9 billion to €12.2 billion and sees adjusted free cash flow at €2.6 billion to €2.9 billion.
London stocks slipped, with the broader market under pressure. Traders blamed cancelled U.S.-Iran peace talks for weak risk appetite. Rising UK borrowing and political jitters sent government bond yields to their highest level in a week. Energy stocks helped cushion losses on the FTSE 100. Vodafone dropped more than both the index and BT, showing investors see issues specific to the company.
Vodafone CEO Margherita Della Valle says the European sector has to consolidate to boost returns. “If we want this, we need more investment, which needs scale,” she told the Reuters Next summit on Tuesday. She said the new UK network handles traffic for 28 million customers. Now investors want proof that more size can actually cut costs and produce cash, not just lead to bigger financing needs. Reuters
But the risk is still visible. Restructuring and integration costs should hit around €700 million in fiscal 2027, with about €400 million tied to VodafoneThree. If Germany weakens faster than expected or free cash flow comes in near the lower end of guidance, leverage could stay high and squeeze room for extra capital returns.
Vodafone’s next test comes with its fiscal first-quarter trading update set for July 27. Germany’s customer numbers, first look at VodafoneThree cost cuts, and any signs of better cash flow will be more important for the stock than the latest bond sale.
