News

Sarin, dead man walking, walks from Vodafone

by John Oates | posted on 27 May 2008

Arun Sarin is leaving Vodafone. The chief executive departs as the mobile group's profits pass £10bn for the year, rather later than pessimists predicted.

His disappearance was foreshadowed by the last set of share options he was offered, which pretty much required him to leave to collect; but his leadership has been under strong attack for at least two years

Vodafone made revenues of £35.5bn, up 4.2 per cent, and adjusting operating profit of £10.1bn in the year ended 31 March 2008. Earnings per share were up 11 per cent to 12.5p.

Sarin will be replaced by his deputy Vittorio Colao, as predicted in NewsWireless in the same article, nearly two years ago.

The future, for Vittorio Colao, depends on how these changes go down with Standard Life and the other big investors. And a lot of that depends on how he's seen by them. People inside Vodafone find the man impressive. True: his fiercely pro-Italian sympathies seem likely to betray him into losing some good people who happen to be British or American or German - but (as one consultant remarked not long ago) "there are not all that many good people at the top of Vodafone these days." If they all go, the loss will not be terrible, she reckons.

But Colao is a genuine, old-fashioned "brilliant man" capable of startlingly rapid thinking. Stories are told about his ability to read a 200-page analyst report in ten minutes, and then quote paragraph by paragraph where it contradicts itself - from memory. And few seem to doubt that Italian Vodafone's turnround is directly due to his management.The handover will take place after the mobile firm's Annual General Meeting 29 July 2008.

The company now has 260m mobile customers, up 26 per cent, including 44m in India - Vodafone completed the acquisition of Essar in May 2007.

Sarin has been at the helm of Vodafone since July 2003 when he replaced Chris Gent, and his departure is a surprise only to some.

In 2006 four major Vodafone shareholders opposed his re-election as CEO Sarin survived the hostile meeting and stayed on. He has overseen the expansion of Vodafone into India, Turkey and Eastern Europe.

Vodafone chairman Sir John Bond said Sarin had led the company with distinction, developed a new strategy and successfully expanded its business in emerging markets.