193 Vodafone Group Plc Annual Report 2024 193
Strategic report
Governance
Financials
Other information
Vodafone Group Plc Annual Report 2024
Capital management The following table summarises the capital of the Group at 31 March:
2024 €m
2023 €m
Borrowings (note 21) Cash and cash equivalents (note 19)
56,987 (6,183) (4,226) 1,524 (3,225) (741)
66,390 (11,705) (6,124) 1,422 (4,305) (239) 485 64,483
Derivative financial instruments included in trade and other receivables (note 14) Derivative financial instruments included in trade and other payables (note 15)
Short-term investments (note 13) Collateral assets (note 13) Financial liabilities under put option arrangements
–
Equity Capital
60,998 105,134
110,407 The Group’s policy is to borrow centrally using a mixture of long-term and short-term capital market issues and borrowing facilities to meet anticipated funding requirements. These borrowings, together with cash generated from operations, are loaned internally or contributed as equity to certain subsidiaries. Dividends from joint ventures and associates and to non-controlling shareholders Dividend policies within shareholder agreements for certain of the Group’s associates and joint ventures give the Group certain rights to receive dividends but are generally paid at the discretion of the Board of Directors or shareholders. We do not have existing obligations to pay dividends to non-controlling interest partners of our subsidiaries. The amount of dividends received and paid in the year are disclosed in the consolidated During the year, the Group sold certain trade receivables to a number of financial institutions. Whilst there are no repurchase obligations in respect of these receivables, the Group provided credit guarantees which would only become payable if default rates were significantly higher than historical rates. The credit guarantee is not considered substantive and substantially all risks and rewards associated with the receivables passed to the purchaser at the date of sale, therefore the receivables were derecognised. The maximum payable under the guarantees at 31 March 2024 was €1,929 million (2023: €1,927 million). No provision has been made in respect of these guarantees as the likelihood of a cash outflow has been assessed as remote. Supplier financing arrangements statement of cash flows. Sale of trade receivables The Group offers suppliers the opportunity to use supply chain financing (‘SCF’). SCF allows suppliers that decide to use it to receive funding earlier than the invoice due date. At 31 March 2024, the financial institutions that run the SCF programmes had purchased €2.2 billion (2023: €2.4 billion) of outstanding supplier invoices, principally from larger suppliers. The Group does not provide any financial guarantees to the financial institutions under this programme and continues to cash settle supplier payables in accordance with their contractual terms. As such, the programme does not change the Group’s net debt, trade payable balances or cash flows. The Group evaluates supplier arrangements against a number of indicators to assess if the payable continues to hold the characteristics of a trade payable or should be classified as borrowings; these indicators include whether the payment terms exceed the shorter of customary payment terms in the industry or 180 days. At 31 March 2024, none of the payables subject to supplier financing arrangements met the criteria to be reclassified as borrowings. Financial risk management The Group’s treasury function centrally manages the Group’s funding requirement, net foreign exchange exposure, interest rate management exposures and counterparty risk arising from investments and derivatives. Treasury operations are conducted within a framework of policies and guidelines authorised and reviewed by the Board, most recently in March 2024. A treasury risk committee comprising of the Group’s Chief Financial Officer, Group General Counsel and Company Secretary, Group Corporate Finance Director, Group Treasury Director and Group Director of Financial Controlling and Operations meets three times a year to review treasury activities and its members receive management information relating to treasury activities on a quarterly basis. The Group’s Internal Auditor reviews the internal control environment regularly.
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