Stakeholder engagement (continued) 14 Vodafone Group Plc Annual Report 2024 Strategic report
Governance
Financials
Other information
How did we respond? – Engaged with the UN Broadband Commission, with Vodacom CEO Shameel Joosub elected as Commissioner – Co-chaired an area of the International Telecommunication Union’s Partner2Connect initiative and contributed to the UN’s ‘SDG Digital Day’ – Participated in industry working groups covering human rights, smartphone access, digital inclusion and biodiversity – Engaged with environmental initiatives, including the Science Based Targets initiative, CDP, and our WWF partnership Governments and regulators Our relationship with governments and regulators is important and we hope to work together on policies impacting our industry and customers, while also enabling governments and regulators to better understand the positive impact we can have on the environment and communities we operate in. How did we engage with them? – B Held meetings with EU institutions, governments, elected representatives, international organisations and regulators – B Hosted and participated in workshops and events to improve sector understanding of connectivity and digitalisation; wrote a set of white and non-papers – B Our Chair chairs the European Round Table for Industrialists, which engages with European and global institutions, and governments – B Promoted Vodafone’s interests through membership – Data protection and privacy in regards to artificial intelligence – Level playing field, sectoral health of the telecommunications sector, market structure, market consolidation and competition – EU single market for the telecommunications industry How did we respond? – Engaged on network investments, design and deployment, allocation of spectrum (especially 6GHz) and the protection of consumers, future of satellite – Promoted the need for telecommunications supply chain resilience and diversity, including highlighting the important role of OpenRAN – Engaged with the EU with respect to the data economy, including data protection, digital principles, and data sharing (including the EU AI Act, Cyber Act and Digital Decade targets) – Participated in the fair share debate through responding to the European Commission consultation on the Future of Connectivity. – Inputted to the Commission White Paper and upcoming reports on competitiveness and the single market. organisations and trade associations What were the key topics raised? – Regulatory and policy environment – Security and supply chain resilience Click to read more about our social contract in our investor briefing. The materials set out why a reset of the European regulatory framework is so important; how through our social contract we have taken a leadership role in improving our relationship with governments and policymakers; and what is needed in terms of policy reform: investors.vodafone.com/social-contract
Our investors Our investors include individual and institutional shareholders as well as debt investors. We maintain an active dialogue with our investors through our extensive investor relations programme. How did we engage with them? – B Personal meetings, roadshows, conferences – B Annual and interim reports and presentations – B Our investor relations website is used as our primary digital communications tool and is available to all shareholders (institutional and retail), including 13 hours of dedicated video content covering investor events and interviews with Board Directors – Regulatory News Service (‘RNS’) announcements – B Annual General Meeting (‘AGM’) – B Investor perception study and regular feedback survey – Online presentations aimed at retail investors, hosted by the UK Individual Shareholders Society in FY24 and ‘Investor Meet Company’ in FY25 – Our Registrar, Equiniti, operates a portfolio service which provides shareholders with the ability to manage their holdings What were the key topics raised? – Our new strategic roadmap and strategic priorities of Customers, Simplicity and Growth – Allocation of capital, including capital investment, leverage and shareholder returns – Portfolio right-sizing for growth – Corporate governance practices – Environmental, Social and Governance (‘ESG’) strategy, targets and reporting How did we respond? – We conducted over 1,000 investor interactions through meetings with major institutional shareholders, debt investors, individual shareholder groups and financial analysts, and attended conferences – Meetings were attended by Directors and senior management, including our Chair, Group Chief Executive, Chief Financial Officer, and Executive Committee members – Provided comprehensive reports and transparency disclosures on ESG matters Click to read more on our investor website: investors.vodafone.com
Powered by FlippingBook