Vodafone accelerates cost-cutting plan

Vodafone, the mobile phone operator, will accelerate its 1bn cost-cutting plan in response to the weakening European market.

Vodafone, the mobile phone operator, will accelerate its £1bn cost-cutting plan in response to the weakening European market.

The company has posted a pre-tax profit fall of 53.5% to £4.2bn in 2008 compared to £9bn a year earlier. It has already been forced to write-off £5.9bn in the 12 months to the end of March and the losses have been mostly attributed to its Spanish operations.

Vodafone has also upgraded its plan to save £500m by 2010 to £650m.

Earlier this year it announced plans to axe around 500 jobs in the UK, including losses at its head office in Newbury.

In a statement Vodafone says: “In Europe and central Europe, recent significant declines in GDP and continued competitive intensity will make operating conditions challenging in the 2010 financial year.”

It adds that the shaky economic climate and rising unemployment rates in Europe means that it is forecasting operating profits for the 2009/10 year to reach up to £11.8bn.

In March, Vodafone UK made Shan Henderson, its head of mobile advertising and industry development, redundant 

The company merged his responsibilities into a global position and has since been taken on by Erik de Kroon, head of marketing for internet discovery at Vodafone Group.

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