Vodafone Issues Bleak Outlook

Vodafone Group PLC warned that the economic slowdown will hurt its sales, news that sent its shares down 14% on the London Stock Exchange.

The pessimistic outlook from the world's largest mobile operator by revenue dragged down the stocks of other telecom companies, coupled with bad news from wireless-networking company Telefon AB L.M. Ericsson. The Stockholm company reported a sharp drop in second-quarter net profit on a weak networks segment, poor results at its Sony Ericsson venture and restructuring costs.

"Telecoms results, globally, have shown remarkable ...