Vodafone cuts dividend; acquisitions boost DCC profits

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Vodafone rebased its full-year dividend to €0.09 from €0.15 for the 2018 fiscal year, implying a final dividend of €0.04. Nevertheless, the company posted a 3.1% rise in adjusted full-year earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation to reach roughly £12.25bn (€14.14bn), which was roughly in-line with the expectations of analysts in the City, although on an as reported basis they declined by 4.1%.

Also on an as reported basis, the company´s free cash flow jumped by 9.1% to £3.50bn (€4.04bn). For 2020, the telecoms carrier forecast adjusted EBITDA in a range of €13.8bn-14.2bn, implying low single digit organic growth. Free cash flow pre-spectrum was pegged at up by at least €5.4bn. Separately, overnight the outfit announced the sale of Vodafone New Zealand Limited to a consortium for an enterprise value €2.1bn.

DCC's annual profit rose as acquisitions helped the sales and support services group overcome mild weather that affected its heating businesses.

Pre-tax profit for the year to the end of March rose 3.3% to £326.7m as revenue from continuing operations increased 16% to £15.2bn. Adjusted operating profit from continuing operations rose 20.1% to £460.5m.

Metrology and healthcare technology group Renishaw said pre-tax profits for the nine months to-end March 2019 fell 18.8% to £84.8m as revenues were flat.

The company said it now expected full full year revenue to be in the range of £580m - £600m, adjusted pre-tax profit of £105m - £120m and statutory pre-tax profit of £111m - £126m.

Newspaper round-up

Rising inequality in Britain risks putting the country on the same path as the US to become one of the most unequal nations on earth, according to a Nobel-prize winning economist. Sir Angus Deaton is leading a landmark review of inequality in the UK amid fears that the country is at a tipping point due to a decade of stagnant pay growth for British workers. The Institute for Fiscal Studies thinktank, which is working with Deaton on the study, said the British-born economist would “point to the risk of the UK following the US” which has extreme inequality levels in pay, wealth and health. – Guardian

A coalition of major City investors have emerged as key players in forcing BP to be more transparent in how it fights climate change. Investors holding just under a tenth of all BP shares, equivalent to more than £10bn in value at Monday’s prices, put their names to the shareholder resolution, to be voted on at the company’s annual meeting next week, the Climate Action 100+ investor group revealed on Tuesday. – Guardian

Vodafone has agreed to sell its New Zealand operation to a private equity consortium for €2.1bn (£1.8bn) after an attempt to merge it with a pay-TV broadcaster was blocked by competition watchdogs. The deal was unveiled by chief executive Nick Read on the eve of annual results that are widely expected to include a cut to Vodafone’s dividend, prompted by the debt burden of its expansion in Europe. – Telegraph

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US stocks slumped on Monday after China retaliated against the US by announcing tariffs on $60bn of US goods, with the Dow and the S&P 500 suffering their worst losses since 3 January.