Vodafone is top dividend payer in the FTSE 100
VODAFONE yesterday became the UK’s highest dividend payer after hiking its shareholder payout for the year by 52 per cent to 13.52p.
Announcing its full year results, the telco giant said it paid out a total of £10.2bn to shareholders in fiscal 2011, including £3.6bn in a share buyback and £2bn from the reapings of its 45 per cent stake in Verizon.
Vodafone will need to rely on a continuing strong performance from Verizon, which accounts for 40 per cent of revenue, amid waning income from its European operations.
While full year revenue grew by 1.2 per cent to £46.4bn, it was dragged down by poor trading in Europe, including fourth quarter declines in Italy and Spain of four per cent and 9.5 per cent respectively.
This was offset by growth in emerging markets. Egypt revenue was up 7.2 per cent, while India grew by 21 per cent.
Vodafone’s presence in India has been clouded by an ongoing spat with the government over tax and regulatory issues. Vodafone chief executive Vittorio Colao conceded the company is currently between a rock and a hard place in India, but added: “We are a pretty hard rock ourself.”
He added that the continuing cuts to mobile terminations rates in Europe are “hurting the industry”. Vodafone, which suffered an 11 per cent profit drop to £7bn, cut its revenue projections for the year ahead.
But Colao remained upbeat about the company’s growth strategy. He said, “My ambition is for Vodafone to be the Amazon of telcos.”