28 Vodafone Group Plc Annual Report 2025 Our financial performance continued Return on capital employed Return on capital employed (‘ROCE’) reflects how efficiently we are generating profit with the capital we deploy. We calculate two ROCE measures: i) Pre-tax ROCE for controlled operations only and ii) Post-tax ROCE including associates and joint ventures. ROCE calculated using GAAP measures for the year ended 31 March 2025 was -0.4% (FY24: 3.4%), impacted by impairment losses in respect of Germany and Romania and a higher income tax expense, which outweighed lower net financing cost. The table below presents adjusted ROCE metrics. FY25 €m FY24 % Change pps
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Other information
Acquisitions and disposals See note 27 ‘Acquisitions and disposals’ in the consolidated financial statements for details of acquisition and disposal transactions during the years ended 31 March 2025 and 2024. Acquisitions and disposals in the year ended 31 March 2023 are summarised below. Acquisitions On 13 November 2022, the Group completed the purchase of 4.2% of Vantage Towers A.G. for cash consideration of €667 million. Disposals On 22 March 2023, the Group completed the disposal of its interest in Vantage Towers A.G. to Oak Holdings 1 GmbH, the co-control partnership of Vodafone, GIP and KKR, resulting in a net gain on disposal of €8,607 million. On 21 February 2023, the Group completed the sale of its 70% shareholding in Vodafone Telecommunications Company Limited (‘Vodafone Ghana’) to Telecel Group, resulting in a net gain on disposal of €689 million. On 31 January 2023, the Group completed the sale of Vodafone Magyarország Zrt (‘Vodafone Hungary’) to 4iG Public Limited Company and Corvinus Zrt, resulting in a loss on disposal of €69 million. On 13 December 2022, the Group completed the transfer of its 55% shareholding in Vodafone Egypt to its subsidiary, Vodacom Group Limited.
Share buybacks In May 2024, the Group started a series of irrevocable and non-discretionary share buyback programmes, announced on 15 May 2024, 7 August 2024, 14 November 2024 and 4 February 2025, in order to return €2 billion of the proceeds from the sale of Vodafone Spain. The final tranche of that series of programmes completed on 19 May 2025. A new share buyback programme of up to €2.0 billion of the proceeds from the sale of Vodafone Italy was announced on 20 May 2025. Details of the shares purchased under these programmes are shown below.
Total number of shares purchased under publicly announced share buyback programmes 3,4,5,6 000s
Average price paid per share inclusive of transaction costs Pence
Total consideration of shares purchased under the programmes €000
Number of shares purchased 1,2 000s
Date of share purchase May 2024 June 2024 July 2024 August 2024 September 2024 October 2024 November 2024 December 2024 January 2025 February 2025 March 2025 April 2025
134,665 267,498 155,255 331,325 132,247 85,489 286,834 272,687 121,566 341,289 86,000 74,663 104,907 2,394,425
75.85 71.44 70.21 74.05 76.81 73.46 70.89 69.46 68.36 67.90 72.64 69.90 72.13 71.41
134,665 402,163 557,418 888,743 1,020,990 1,106,479 1,393,313 1,666,000 1,787,566 2,128,855 2,214,855 2,289,518 2,394,425 2,394,425
119,682 345,402 474,641 760,541 881,174 956,336 1,198,036 1,426,808 1,519,747 1,798,163 1,872,760 1,933,891 2,023,532 2,023,532
Pre-tax ROCE (controlled) 1 Post-tax ROCE (controlled and associates/joint ventures) 1
7.0% 7.2%
(0.2)
4.4% 4.4%
–
Note: 1. ROCE is calculated by dividing Operating profit by the average of capital employed as reported in the consolidated statement of financial position. Pre-tax ROCE (controlled) and Post-tax ROCE (controlled and associates/joint ventures) are non-GAAP measures. See page 213 for more information.
May 2025 (to 27 May)
Total 5
Notes: 1. The nominal value of shares purchased is 20 21/22 pence each. 2. Settlement date is two days after shares purchased. 3. No shares were purchased outside the publicly announced share buyback programmes. 4. In accordance with shareholder authority granted at the 2023 and 2024 Annual General Meetings.
5. T he total shares repurchased under each programme were: 591,127,316 shares completed on 6 August 2024: 592,618,008 shares completed on 13 November 2024: 603,820,024 shares completed on 22 January 2025 and 549,968,714 shares completed on 19 May 2025. 6. The total number of shares repurchased represented 9.6% of our issued share capital, excluding Treasury shares, at 27 May 2025.
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