Vodafone 2002 Annual Report Download - page 30

Vodafone Group Plc Annual Report & Accounts and Form 20-F Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Statements28
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Statements
This document contains “forward-looking statements”within the meaning
of the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 with respect to the
Group’s financial condition, results of operations and businesses and certain
of the Group’s plans and objectives with respect to these items. In particular,
forward-looking statements include statements with respect to Vodafone’s
expectations as to launch and roll-out dates for products and services, including
3G services, the expected benefits of 3G and other services and demand for
such services, the rollout of a single Vodafone brand, growth in customers and
usage, future performance, including revenues, ARPU, EBITDA, cash flows, costs,
capital expenditures and improvements in margin, non-voice services and their
revenue contribution, the effect of synergies and cost saving measures, future
acquisitions, the likelihood of impairment charges, mobile penetration rates,
churn, overall market trends and other trend projections.
Forward-looking statements are sometimes, but not always, identified by their
use of a date in the future or such words as “anticipates”, “aims”, “due”, “could”,
“may”, “should”, “expects”, “believes”, “intends”, “plans”, “targets”, “goal”or
“estimates”. By their nature, forward-looking statements are inherently
predictive, speculative and involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to
events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future. There are a
number of factors that could cause actual results and developments to differ
materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.
These factors include, but are not limited to, the following:
• changes in economic conditions in markets served by operations of the
Group that would adversely affect the level of demand for mobile services;
• greater than anticipated competitive activity requiring reduced pricing
and/or new product offerings or resulting in higher costs of acquiring new
customers, or slower customer growth or reduced customer retention;
• the impact on capital spending from investment in network capacity and the
deployment of new technologies, or the rapid obsolescence of existing
technology;
•the possibility that technologies, including mobile internet platforms, and
services, including 3G services, will not perform according to expectations
or that vendors’ performance will not meet the Group’s requirements;
•changes in the projected growth rates of the mobile telecommunications
industry;
•the Group’s ability to implement its global branding strategy;
•future revenue contributions of both voice and non-voice services offered
by the Group;
•lower than expected impact of GPRS, 3G and Vizzavi Europe’s partnership
with the Group’s operators on future revenues;
•the ability of the Group to harmonise mobile platforms and any delays,
impediments or other problems associated with the roll-out and scope of
3G technology and services and Vizzavi services in new markets;
•the ability of the Group to offer new services and the delivery and
performance of GPRS and 3G handsets, network equipment and other key
products from suppliers;
•greater than anticipated prices of new mobile handsets;
•the ability to realise benefits from entering into partnerships for developing
data and internet services;
•any conditions imposed in connection with regulatory approvals sought in
connection with pending acquisitions and dispositions;
•changes in the regulatory framework in which the Group operates, including
possible action by the European Commission regulating rates the Group is
permitted to charge;
•the Group’s ability to develop competitive data content and services which
will attract new customers and increase average usage;
•the Group’s ability to achieve cost savings or revenue enhancements
following its recent acquisitions, including Japan Telecom;
•the impact of legal or other proceedings against the Group or other
companies in the mobile telecommunications industry, including legal
proceedings based on alleged health consequences as a result of mobile
phone usage; and
•changes in exchange rates, including particularly the exchange rate of the
pound to the euro, US dollar and the Japanese yen.
Furthermore, a review of the reasons why actual results and developments may
differ materially from the expectations disclosed or implied within forward-looking
statements can be found under “Risk Factors”, below. All subsequent written or
oral forward-looking statements attributable to the Company or any member of
the Group or any persons acting on their behalf are expressly qualified in their
entirety by the factors referred to above.