Vodafone 'to report UK's biggest losses'

Telecoms giant Vodafone was today forecast to report the biggest losses in UK corporate history as it writes off between £15 billion and £25 billion following a buying spree during the telecoms boom.

Analysts were expecting the group to re-evaluate the acquisitions it made during the height of the tech and telecoms market.

This could see it write off between €24bn and €39.5bn, and include reducing the value of its €179bn takeover of German industrial group Mannesmann two years ago.

The losses could dwarf those of stricken telecoms equipment group Marconi, which earlier this month reported losses of €9bn after writing down the value of acquisitions in the US.

Vodafone’s shares slumped 7% yesterday in anticipation of its figures - wiping £8.6bn from the group’s market value.

One analyst said: ‘‘The share fall was on nerves ahead of results - I can’t think of any other reason - the market has been very twitchy about this.’’

At its current share price, Vodafone is valued at €113bn - €316bn less than the value at its peak in March 2000.

The amount Vodafone decided to write down has been subject to mounting speculation, but analysts say the market should now have factored in most of the charges into the group’s share price.

Instead, analysts were today focusing on the ‘‘clean’’ figures, stripping out costs, which show how Vodafone’s business is faring.

Stripping out exceptional items and write offs, it was forecast to report pre-tax profits of €9.4bn, against €6.3bn last time while revenues are expected to rise 34% to €47bn.

Growth was being boosted by improvements in profits at J-Phone, its 69.7%-owned mobile operator in Japan, analysts said.