An interim cannot make strategic decisions
Vodafone needs more than an interim CEO. Margherita Della Valle, who took over temporarily in December, had to announce disappointing new figures on Wednesday. Sales fell by 1.8% in October-December in Germany, a country that contributes more than 30% of revenue.
Della Valle is accelerating the reduction of costs, of 1,000 million, and applying the decisions of Read. The merger with CK Hutchison’s Three UK is still on. And the sale of half of the interest in Vantage Towers has been completed. But an interim CEO cannot make strategic decisions, such as whether or not to sell the Italian unit to which Xavier Niel’s Iliad aspires, which has taken 2.5% of Vodafone. The poor results reinforce the idea that it is a conglomerate of assets without obvious synergies. You need a permanent CEO. If the council thinks Della Valle is up to it, they should nominate her. If not, you must choose someone else, fast.
