Strong results prompted mobile giant Vodafone to double the size of its interim dividend, but the news will be of little comfort to its 450,000 Irish shareholders.
The London-listed company pledged to double its interim dividend to 1.91p (2.73 cent) a share after announcing that revenues for the six months to the end of September were up 4 per cent at €24 billion.
At this rate, the interim dividend payment to the average Irish shareholder, who has 240 shares, will come to a little over £4.58 (€6.55).
The shares closed down 0.5 per cent in London last night at 142p. That price was 19 per cent below the effective £1.75 that 450,000 Irish shareholders paid for the stock in May 2001, when they exchanged two shares in Eircom's former mobile arm, Eircell, for 0.948 Vodafone shares.
Last night's close valued the average Irish stake at £340.80 compared to the £420 that it would have cost in May 2001. Irish people ended up with Vodafone shares as a consequence of the Eircom flotation in 1999, to which more than 500,000 people subscribed.
Eircom sold Eircell to Vodafone two years later. As a result, it is thought to be the most widely owned share in the State.
UK analysts said yesterday that Irish people should keep their shares for the short term, as they are likely to have gained 6 per cent by the end of the company's financial year in March.
Vodafone had a £1.9 billion pre-tax loss in its first half,broadly similar to last year. The company's operating profits - that is before write-offs for goodwill and exceptional items - were in line with last year at £5.7 billion. It generated around £4.3 billion in cash during the period.
Vodafone chief executive Mr Arun Sarin said the increased pay-outs would still give Vodafone freedom to pursue acquisition opportunities in the future and maintain its coveted A credit rating.
He said he would "not be surprised" if Vodafone made an acquisition in eastern Europe over the next year.
In the Republic, Vodafone Ireland had operating profits in the six months to the end September of €208 million, compared with €196 million during the same period last year.
Revenues for the first half were €580 million, compared with €550 million in 2003.
During the first half, Vodafone's average revenue per user in the Republic was €596. This means that, at the end of the six-month period, it had earned an average of €596 in revenues from each subscriber over the previous 12 months.
That return was €20 more than the comparable figure in 2003.
Mr Gerry Fahy, Vodafone Ireland's strategy director, said discounts offered by the company to its customers drove the increase in revenue per customer.
Over the year to the end of September, Vodafone recruited a further 87,000 Irish customers to bring its total subscriber numbers in the Republic to 1.89 million, maintaining a lead over its two competitors, BT-owned O2 and Meteor.
