Vodafone share price: Telco picks Ernst & Young as new auditor

Vodafone Group (LON:VOD) has chosen Ernst & Young as its new auditor, the blue-chip telco has said. The news comes after the FTSE 100 group launched a tender at the end of last year to replace PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) because of the audit firm’s role as administrator to Phones 4U, which collapsed four years ago.

Vodafone’s share price has climbed higher in London in today’s session, having added 0.99 percent to 141.02p as of 13:50 GMT. The shares are marginally outperforming the broader UK market, with the benchmark FTSE 100 index currently standing 0.77 percent higher at 7,252.60 points. The group’s shares have given up just under 30 percent of their value over the past year, as compared with about a 0.3-percent gain in the Footsie.

Vodafone picks new auditor

Vodafone announced in a statement today that it had concluded a competitive tender process for its statutory audit contract, with the Board having approved the appointment of Ernst & Young  following the completion of the audit of the company’s accounts for the year ending March 31, 2019. The telco noted that the appointment will be subject to the approval by shareholders at the annual general meeting.

“We thank PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP for their significant contribution as Vodafone’s auditors over recent years and we look forward to working with Ernst & Young LLP,” David Nish, Chairman of the Vodafone Audit and Risk Committee, said in the statement.

Analysts on blue-chip telco

UBS reaffirmed Vodafone as a ‘buy’ earlier this month, trimming its price target on the shares from 230p to 215p. According to MarketBeat, the blue-chip group currently has a consensus ‘buy’ rating and an average price target of 200.11p.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch recently lifted its rating on the company, arguing that headwinds are already ‘baked in’.

As of 14:11 GMT, Friday, 15 February, Vodafone Group plc share price is 141.02p.