Vodafone share price: Telco appoints boss of business unit

Vodafone (LON:VOD) has appointed a chief executive of its business unit, the FTSE 100 group has said. The move comes ahead of the blue-chip telco’s annual general meeting on July 23, to be followed by the group’s quarterly trading update on July 26.

Vodafone’s share price has been subdued in London this morning, having given up 0.50 percent to 133.97p as of 10:04 BST, underperforming the broader UK market, with the benchmark FTSE 100 index currently standing 0.06 percent lower at 7,548.96 points. The telco’s shares have given up just under 30 percent of their value over the past year, as compared with less than a one-percent dip in the Footsie.

New exec appointment at Vodafone

Vodafone announced in a statement this morning that it had appointed Vinod Kumar as chief executive of its Business unit with effect from September 2. He will also join the telco’s executive committee from that date and report to the group’s CEO Nick Read.

Kumar joins from Tata Communications where he has been managing director and CEO since 2011, since joining the company as chief operating office in 2004. His career also includes positions in  Asia Netcom, WorldCom, Global One and Sprint International.

‘Experienced business leader’

“Vinod is a very experienced business leader with a breadth of experience from across the globe.  He is a great addition to Vodafone and the Executive Committee,” Vodafone’s chief executive Nick Read said in the statement. Kumar meanwhile noted that he was “very excited to join the vibrant team at Vodafone Business”.

Barclays reaffirmed its ‘overweight’ rating on Vodafone last week, pointing to near-term catalysts to help unlock the discount to their valuation on the stock. According to MarketBeat, the blue-chip telco currently has a consensus ‘buy’ rating, while the average target for Vodafone’s share price stands at 186.22p.