By Kate Hanaghan, 28 May 2002 08:00
NEWS Vodafone has posted a year-end pre-tax loss of £13.5bn - the biggest in UK corporate history - after it was forced to write-off huge swathes of investments made during the telecoms boom. Put in perspective, the figure is more than twice that of Marconi, which recently revealed losses of £5.7bn. There had been speculation Europe's biggest mobile phone operator would write-off anything between £8bn and £25bn. However, the final figure was £6bn. The company decided not to write-down the value of its mobile assets in the belief they are still set to grow. Yesterday the company took a pounding on the London Stock Exchange as traders expected the worst. By close its share value was down seven per cent to 105p. This year, the company has seen its share value almost halve. Despite this, the company's chief executive Sir Christopher Gent is expected to pick up the final part of a bonus worth £10m. The move looks set to fuel the wrath of shareholders who claim the payment is excessive in light of the collapse of the company's share value.
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