Vodafone IPO

[trader_jackson]

As you may have seen in NBR "Vodafone to float on the NZX", an announcement is expected within 2 weeks (IPO to be run by Deutsche Bank).

Revenue of $2.02b, EBITDA of 481m, enterprise value of $3.4b.

Thoughts?

[hardt]

As you may have seen in NBR "Vodafone to float on the NZX", an announcement is expected within 2 weeks (IPO to be run by Deutsche Bank).

Revenue of $2.02b, EBITDA of 481m, enterprise value of $3.4b.

Thoughts?

See anything about the proposed listing value?

[Rep]

Every IPO is about a fair price for future value. 'Enterprise value' is just over 7 multiples of EBITDA but have to understand gearing, future capital and.... realistic forecasts of future earnings.

[JBmurc]

Be interested in Yield ..... been Vodafone user for decades

[SilverBack]

As you may have seen in NBR "Vodafone to float on the NZX", an announcement is expected within 2 weeks (IPO to be run by Deutsche Bank).

Revenue of $2.02b, EBITDA of 481m, enterprise value of $3.4b.

Thoughts?

As usual, the devil is in the detail. Thanks for the heads up but until the prospectus is issued it is hard to say how good a deal the listing will be. Keep us informed all the same. Cheers.

[Investor]

Will be avoiding this

[axe]

"royalty" payments to parent company will be the big question on this one.

The bulk of Vodafone's profit boost was thanks to a $35m drop in finance costs that followed a move by its British parent to inject more equity into the company and to reduce the interest rate the subsidiary has to pay on internal company loans.
- Stuff

[Kropotkin]

"royalty" payments to parent company will be the big question on this one.

Agree. How much of a transfer the parent demands will be the key factor in the local operation's profitability.

Another key issue for mobile in the NZ market (and globally) is static to declining ARPU and the relatively high cost of customer acquisition.
NZ already has a highly saturated mobile market so the real growth opportunity is IoT - this is what will be driving investment in 5G and beyond.

The obvious advantage to VF is scale. They are the biggest global brand, have incredibly deep pockets and are capable of demanding enormous concessions from network equipment providers in terms of price and equipment exclusivity arrangements. As such, their technology costs and deployment timelines can be controlled a lot more tightly than their competitors, and their time to market tends to be faster.

The other elephant in the room is regulation. Mobile providers have got of relatively lightly in NZ for a long time but that could change with little warning.
Saying that, the market is pretty competitive so intervention by ComCom doesn't seem likely in the medium term.

[winner69]

)ne way to solve a problem ...tell the customers to piss off

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/96631562/vodafone-to-ditch-email-after-failing-to-beat-technical-problems

[peat]

)ne way to solve a problem ...tell the customers to piss off

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/96631562/vodafone-to-ditch-email-after-failing-to-beat-technical-problems

Certainly not a great sign if they cant provide an email address.
I've used one of their sub domain names within my email for a very long time, after they bought out my first ISP. This is their only service I use, and its cost me $5 a month (somewhat unnecessarily) But I've been very reluctant to change my email address simply for reasons of continuity, now I will be forced to.

[Beagle]

Often referred too as Vodafail...I'll put the popcorn on for this one and watch from the sidelines.

[JBmurc]

Vodafone Group yield-2017 5.7%

[steveb]

Often referred too as Vodafail...I'll put the popcorn on for this one and watch from the sidelines.
Hound I agree 100%.
Total waste of space.If you have a problem tough luck, as the the easiest thing for them to do is nothing.

[minimoke]

Certainly not a great sign if they cant provide an email address.
I've used one of their sub domain names.
I would have thouhht this to be relatively straight forward for a technology driven communications company. That they can't get this right suggest there is potential for mammy other things to go wrong and be left unresolved.

I won't be in to an ipo.

[kiora]

Mobile internet data becoming more and more competitively priced.Increasing data caps and even unlimited data.Which provider can build the biggest pipes quicker?
Vodafone at the moment has best mobile data performance

[trader_jackson]

Often referred too as Vodafail...I'll put the popcorn on for this one and watch from the sidelines.

Like you did with Oceania? ;)

[Jantar]

)ne way to solve a problem ...tell the customers to piss off

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/96631562/vodafone-to-ditch-email-after-failing-to-beat-technical-problems
I am one of them. Landline, both mobile's (mine and Wife's), internet all with Vodo, but as I have to change email provider I shall change the lot at the same time. Looking at comments on social media, I am only one of thousands.

Not a good business decision at the time they may be looking to float.

[Snoopy]

I am one of them. Landline, both mobile's (mine and Wife's), internet all with Vodo, but as I have to change email provider I shall change the lot at the same time. Looking at comments on social media, I am only one of thousands.

Not a good business decision at the time they may be looking to float.

Don't bother changing to 2 degrees broadband. They have stopped new customers opening e-mail accounts. I am guessing the end of their mail server is nigh as well.

SNOOPY

[kiora]

Using gmail good for filtering spam but they appear to use private info to target adds .
New 2 deg Mobile broadband with inc data OK.Do have to tick roaming in some areas to go on Vodafone network though?

[fungus pudding]

Don't bother changing to 2 degrees broadband. They have stopped new customers opening e-mail accounts. I am guessing the end of their mail server is nigh as well.

SNOOPY

Are they any good apart from that? They seem to be up with any others for mbl phone connection

[Snoopy]

Are they any good apart from that? They seem to be up with any others for mbl phone connection


2 degrees are good for mobile phone. But when I paid a visit to their Christchuch HQ, they seemed to be pushing small business broadband packages. That and high use fibre broadband. If you were an 'average Joe', after a basic broad band connection with e-mail support they didn't seem interested. Claimed they weren't big enough to match the discounted offerings from other players either. My conversation with them was civil and they were very polite. But I 'got the message'.

SNOOPY

[macduffy]

I am one of them. Landline, both mobile's (mine and Wife's), internet all with Vodo, but as I have to change email provider I shall change the lot at the same time. Looking at comments on social media, I am only one of thousands.

Not a good business decision at the time they may be looking to float.
I'm another Jantar. Probably time to shift everything again. Spark's turn?

[Zaphod]

I'm another Jantar. Probably time to shift everything again. Spark's turn?

With commoditized services, it's a race to the bottom. The constant churning of the customer base that's now occurs in order to obtain new customer discounts isn't a viable long-term proposition. I think power retailers are in a similar position.

Having said that, from a personal perspective I'd advise changing provider every so often to take advantage of these deals.

[Zaphod]

Using gmail good for filtering spam but they appear to use private info to target adds .

Yes, the big winner in all of this will be Google who will develop more profitable relationships directly with tens of thousands of VF/Clear/Paradise/etc. email refugees.


New 2 deg Mobile broadband with inc data OK.Do have to tick roaming in some areas to go on Vodafone network though?

2 Degree's coverage is their Achilles heal AFAIC. VFNZ aren't too far ahead of them.

I'll definitely avoid any VF float for the foreseeable future.

[trader_jackson]

Extracts from recent Street Talk article on AFR (1pm today):
Bank of America Merrill Lynch has scored the third mandate on a proposed $1 billion-plus listing of Vodafone New Zealand.
As first reported by Street Talk on Sunday, BoAML joins Deutsche Bank and its affiliate Craigs Investment Partners and UBS on the ticket.
NZ-owned investment and advisory firm Forsyth Barr is BoAML's partner across the ditch, with bankers there heavily involved in the listing preparations.
A non-deal roadshow is being planned for Aussie and Kiwi investors in coming weeks spearheaded by Deutsche Craigs.
Transaction may slip into 2018, if it does proceed.

[trader_jackson]

Another pay to view artcile in NBR with no (real) new info except that the listing is likely going to be pushed back to 2018 due to the election.
So does that make OCA the only (likely) listing on the NZX this year?

Although the article did mention that Vodafone (parent) have spun out Kenyan subsidiary Safaricom in 2008 and South African business Vodacom in 2009 - I note both have done nicely on their respective exchanges since being listed, although different countries will naturally result in different factors (eg NZ could be more saturated and competitive)

[axe]

Have had both vodafone home and mobile accounts for years. They still cannot give me both on one bill. Rumour is there is some pretty big backend stuff the needs big $$$ to get up to scratch to get the two systems together. I wonder how much legacy IT platforms need upgrades / replacing. I suppose it's best for vodafone UK to wait until after listing to fix these issues.

[Jantar]

Have had both vodafone home and mobile accounts for years. .... As have I. But moved both away from Vodafone this month in response to the closing of their email service. It is the difficulty of transferring email addresses that ties a lot of people to a particular provider.

[rmnz]

Yes they are a global brand but I don't see them leveraging their global capabilities, they certainly haven't brought much to NZ from what works well for them overseas.

Also, they are still essentially just Telstra Clear with a different coat of paint. The comment below about ageing and creaking systems is very pertinent.

[Marilyn Munroe]

Don't bother changing to 2 degrees broadband. They have stopped new customers opening e-mail accounts. I am guessing the end of their mail server is nigh as well.

SNOOPY

Those of you left out in the cold by Vodafone's and other providers email drop and wish to avoid being absorbed into the dark void of Google can use my solution.

1. Register your own internet domain. Cost about 30 bucks a year.

2. Sign up for an email hosting service. Coats about 80-100 bucks a year.

Advantages are;

Unlimited mailboxes. Give your cat an email address.

Creates a professional impression if you are running a small business. and

Freedom to chop and change broadband providers without the hassle of changing email addresses.

I use NZ provider Discount Domains but there are plenty to choose from.

How about this example;

tiddles.cat@munroe.net.nz

Boop boop de do
Marilyn

PS Not a real cat or email address. Any smooching in my house is my job.

[Entrep]

You can get one free email address using a custom domain at Zoho.com

[Jerry]

I don't quite like the way Vodafone said they will continue to forward emails to a new account for their customers. I read that as they won't be forwarding mail, if you change landline etc to another provider. Do they have a duty to forward emails anyway?
I personally will be reluctant to give my tuppence to their IPO.
2 degrees are excellent in my area for mobile. It's a matter of checking https://www.2degreesmobile.co.nz/coverage/

[BlackCross]

I don't quite like the way Vodafone said they will continue to forward emails to a new account for their customers. I read that as they won't be forwarding mail, if you change landline etc to another provider. Do they have a duty to forward emails anyway?
I personally will be reluctant to give my tuppence to their IPO.
2 degrees are excellent in my area for mobile. It's a matter of checking https://www.2degreesmobile.co.nz/coverage/

At the moment I believe that if you leave Vodafone you loose your email account unless, that is, you pay about $5.00 a month (or around that figure) to keep it open. Hopefully they'll offer something similar after the float?

[peat]

I don't quite like the way Vodafone said they will continue to forward emails to a new account for their customers. I read that as they won't be forwarding mail, if you change landline etc to another provider. Do they have a duty to forward emails anyway?

I'm not reading it that way. I have an email of theirs but am not a customer. They have already started forwarding emails to my new address, and I am expecting them to continue to do so after the 30th. I guess we will know very soon.

[BlackCross]

We were about to leave Vodafone a few months ago and were told we would have to pay a monthly fee to have email access ($5 or $10 monthly, I can't quite remember?). However, just looked through the FAQ they issued recently and it says:
What if I leave Vodafone?
We will provide auto-forwarding to everyone for as long as they want it. This will be at no cost for Vodafone customers, and for the time being it is also at no cost for people who leave Vodafone.
If we look to review this position, and to introduce a charge for customers who have left us, we will give you three months’ notice.

[peat]

We were about to leave Vodafone a few months ago and were told we would have to pay a monthly fee to have email access ($5 or $10 monthly, I can't quite remember?). However, just looked through the FAQ they issued recently and it says:
What if I leave Vodafone?
We will provide auto-forwarding to everyone for as long as they want it. This will be at no cost for Vodafone customers, and for the time being it is also at no cost for people who leave Vodafone.
If we look to review this position, and to introduce a charge for customers who have left us, we will give you three months’ notice.







Indeed
As I expected still receiving emails sent to my old vodafone address at the email address I advised them to forward to.

But more to the thread, when is the IPO happening?

[ohpark0119]

completely irrelevant, the webmail portal is still up. i can still log in and send emails.

-- following up
the portal is up but cannot log in.

[trader_jackson]

Things are definitely still 'happening'... interesting article in AFR Street Talk a few days back regarding Vodafone NZ's first pitch to Aussie fundies.. which mentioned various things including that Vodafone was "promising top line growth, stable earnings margins and chunky dividends for investors".

It could be a $2b offering (with vodafone having a market cap of $4b), more presentations to come early 2018 - it is 'definitely listing' in 2018, so Vodafone's UK parent company says.

[Baa_Baa]

completely irrelevant, the webmail portal is still up. i can still log in and send emails.

Yes, it's still up. Muppets.

[bull....]

be a good addition to the market , big company steady earnings

[QOH]

They are about to lose me as a customer, I see they have just put my bill up by 10 dollars a month, the main reason I stayed was because of my email address, but now that's sorted, I have no incentive to stay.

[hardt]

I have a feeling they are listing as they are noticing their market share shrink in NZ.

Anecdotal evidence - not a single person I know is with Vodafone for fibre or cell anymore... keyword "anymore"

Better deals everywhere else.

[couta1]

be a good addition to the market , big company steady earnings Spark a better choice, bigger not always better, look at Telstra of late as an example. PS-Was very happy to ditch Vodafone a year ago.

[Leftfield]

be a good addition to the market , big company steady earnings

Much depends on what 'debt' they are saddled with...... I'm not convinced.

[bull....]

much like spark vodaph if adapts to the new worls sucessfully could be staedy income earner wouldnt classify either as growth at this point in time

[BlackCross]

Very, very recently (days not months) our download speed over Vodafone has suddenly doubled from around 6 Mbps to over 12 Mbps. Whether this is down to people leaving Vodafone or that Chorus have run fibre down the street (but not yet offered a fibre connection to us) I don't know. What I do know is that it's a damn sight quicker.

[Beagle]

I have a feeling they are listing as they are noticing their market share shrink in NZ.

Anecdotal evidence - not a single person I know is with Vodafone for fibre or cell anymore... keyword "anymore"

Better deals everywhere else.
Everyone I know refers to them as Vodafail...absolutely shocking service.

[macduffy]

This possible IPO hangs in limbo but meanwhile its CEO tries to convince us that we don't really want to speak to a human being in their call centres.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12192385

[100101]

As soon as fibre is fully operational in Wellington Christchurch and Auckland Vodvoles cable moat is gone. Cant come soon enough for me, there is then little reason to put up with their rudeness and uselessness.
Probably wouldn't buy on an IPO but could be tempted after the drop on the first day of trading.

[macduffy]

He's absolutely right. CS staff are rubbish. All you get is excuses and bozo questions, not solutions. If you a good result, DIY it. :cool:

I suppose that's one way of getting rid of them! And cheaper than training.

:rolleyes:

[GTM 3442]

I suppose that's one way of getting rid of them! And cheaper than training.

:rolleyes:

My experience with Vodafone was that they had very good, very capable, people, who wanted to do a good job, and to do the right thing by the customer and the company, but that those good, capable people were hamstrung by truly dreadful internal systems, processes, and procedures.

Some of the sues seem to have been related to growth by acquisition, and the need to maintain various legacy systems.

However, whatever the cause, they eventually they paid me what I wanted, after which I left and moved to another company.

[Balance]

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12211374

The Pig is being given a major makeover and dress up - you have been WARNED!

[Marilyn Munroe]

Have they integrated the Bell South / Telstra-Clear billing system yet?

Boop boop de do
Marilyn

[winner69]

Vodafone had tens of thousands of disgruntled customers on Saturday

Underinvestment in critical infrastructure caused the problem social media says

[Balance]

Vodafone had tens of thousands of disgruntled customers on Saturday

Underinvestment in critical infrastructure caused the problem social media says

No reason for them to invest when they are wanting to sell - unfortunately NZers are suckers so they will get away with it too!

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12211416

Meanwhile, they are looking to shift jobs to India (every dollar saved = $15 extra for Vodafone in IPO value).

[blackcap]

No reason for them to invest when they are wanting to sell - unfortunately NZers are suckers so they will get away with it too!

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12211416

Meanwhile, they are looking to shift jobs to India (every dollar saved = $15 extra for Vodafone in IPO value).

I was on the phone with vodafone last week to sort out an issue with sim cards on my account. What a nightmare. Seriously took about 45 minutes to sort out a cancellation of an extra 2 sims I had on my account. Could not do it at the local store, had to go through the 0800 number. For that alone I am going to ditch them at the next opportunity. It was horrible. The first lady (from phillipines or india) could sort out the cancellation but then could not tell me my outstanding balance and had to be transferred to another department. More waiting etc etc, and got transferred again. I cannot believe that a company of their supposed calibre would want their customers getting so pissed off.

[stoploss]

inside goss. Apparently IFT in talks to buy Vodafone.

Not that inside when it's already in the AFR ......

[silu]

Not that inside when it's already in the AFR ......

i know i know i've deleted my post.