After 10 years at the helm of the Vodafone group, Vittorio Colao decided to take a step back. The CEO of the European telecommunications giant will leave his post starting next October.
Vodafone, the second mobile operator at global level, let it be known that Colao's resignation leaves room for a succession for internal lines. The company announces that it will be to take the place of the outgoing CEO Nick Read, current Cfo. In turn, Margherita Della Valle will become CFO. A bit of the Italian flag will thus remain at the top of an international group whose compass is meritocracy and constant innovation.
Colao can complete his decennial management with three successes collected recently. First there is the return to profit of the group: after losses of 6,3 billion in the previous year, Vodafone in 2017 returned to generating net profits of 2,4 billion. The financial statements for the entire year, closed on 31 March 2918, also show for Vodafone Italy a positive trend with growing revenues, Ebitda, and 4G and fiber customers. In Italy i revenues from services reached €5,3 billion (+ 1,2 % of organic growth compared to the previous year), thanks in particular to the fixed segment driven by a strong increase in the customer base. The Ebitda grows by 4,6% and stands at 2,3 billion euros (equal to 37,5% of total revenues), up by 1 percentage point compared to the previous fiscal year.
Furthermore, just a few days ago Colao was also able to announce a mega-acquisition in Germany with the acquisition of Unitymedia, taken over by the American Liberty Global and destined to further strengthen Vodafone's leadership both in Germany and in Europe.
Finally, Colao's third success in India should not be forgotten, where he managed to get Vodafone out of the impasse it had fallen into due to increasingly wild competition: he did with Idea Cellular and merging Vodafone India with India's third largest operator.
“It was a difficult but right decision – Colao explained – The chapter that the company is starting to write is totally new: after India and after Liberty, it will move with the big names in the sector on the path of convergence. I am very happy that the board has chosen Nick, he is an exceptional person, an incredibly resilient person ”.
After the news of Colao's farewell in October, this morning the Vodafone stock loses 3% on the London Stock Exchange.
