Only drastic action stands a chance of convincing investors that Vodafone is capable of being revived. A history of value destruction by her predecessors has put an even greater burden on Margherita Della Valle, now the permanent chief executive, to prove that the telecoms company can return to growth and comfortably balance the competing demands on its capital.
A 3.7 per cent organic increase in its service revenue during the first quarter, the highest in 15 years, is not a bad opening shot from Della Valle. That comes out at 1.8 per cent if the hyperinflationary Turkish market is stripped out. The low bar implied by that milestone indicates just how dire Vodafone’s revenue growth track record has been.
But it is hardly set on
