Sound Bites From Vodafone's Annual Shareholder Meeting

LONDON (Dow Jones) -- Mobile-phone behemoth Vodafone Group's management faced increasingly disgruntled shareholders at the company's annual meeting in London on Tuesday, with its board of directors enduring a barrage of criticism from angry investors.

Chief Executive Arun Sarin, and the company's stock, came under fire at the meeting.

Here are some snippets:

On press reports of board acrimony over management and strategy:

"It sounds to me like you're a board of charlatans." -- shareholder

After the announced departure Monday of European executive and turnaround specialist Bill Morrow, who, according to Vodafone, is leaving the company for family reasons:

"It's a pity we haven't heard from Mr. Sarin that he'd like to spend more time with his family because that would solve a lot of our problems." -- shareholder

Referring to the rather complex manner in which Vodafone has decided to return 9 billion pounds ($16.6 billion) to its shareholders, via B-share issues, Vodafone defended its choice by saying it was a well-trodden path. A shareholder snapped back:

"This may be a well-trodden path, but so is bankruptcy."

Outgoing Chairman Ian MacLaurin also had words, though they certainly weren't the meeting's last:

"The last six months or so have not been the easiest; we've all been in the firing line." -- MacLaurin

Some questions, far from humorous, simply reflected the rising anger of shareholders at Vodafone's foundering fortunes:

"Why is the share price so low?" -- shareholder

"Can you give me the assurance that squabbling within the board will not happen anymore?" -- shareholder

And perhaps most interestingly for risk-friendly investors:

"When are you going to make a bid for BT?" -- John Peett, co-founder of Vodafone

(END) Dow Jones Newswires"

Posted to the site on 25th July 2006