Vodafone Cuts Dividend After Revenue Falls.

Vodafone Cuts Dividend After Revenue Falls

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Vodafone Group Plc’s dividend has cracked under the strain of falling revenue, soaring spectrum costs and a $21 billion acquisition, in a grim reality check for Europe’s struggling phone industry.

The region’s biggest telecom carrier slashed its full-year dividend by 40% to 9 euro cents per share, reversing Chief Executive Officer Nick Read’s goal to keep the payout unchanged. It was the first cut since the company introduced dividend payments in 1990.

The move allows Read to conserve cash as sales in major markets come under sustained attack from rivals offering no-frills contracts and former monopolies reasserting themselves with dominant networks. Vodafone is gearing up to spend billions of euros on mobile-network upgrades and the airwaves needed for the next generation of ultra-fast wireless services.

By Thomas Seal.

Full story at Yahoo News.