Vodafone warning deepens telecom clouds

British mobile phone giant Vodafone warned on Tuesday that full-year sales would disappoint the market, sending its share price tumbling one week before the exit of chief executive Arun Sarin.
Vodafone said in a trading update that annual revenues would be at the lower end of expectations because of difficult trading conditions, particularly in Spain.
In reaction, the group's share price plunged 14.3 percent to 127.50 pence in late morning trade on London's FTSE 100 leading shares index, which was down by 1.41 percent.
The telecoms sector was also dragged lower after Ericsson, world leader in mobile phone network equipment, reported a 70-percent collapse of net profit for the second quarter, citing a slowdown in western Europe.
The blizzard of negative news comes exactly one week ahead of the departure of boss Sarin, who will hand over to his deputy chief executive Vittorio Colao after five years in charge.
"The CEO would not have wished for these numbers as a swansong, nor the accompanying share price performance," said Richard Hunter, analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.