11th May 2007 09:00
Vodafone Group Plc11 May 2007 11 May 2007 VODAFONE SELECTS HUNGARY AS THE LOCATION FOR ITS SHARED SERVICE CENTRE CENTRE FORMS PART OF THREE-YEAR PLAN TO DELIVER GREATER EFFICIENCIES ACROSS THE GROUP Vodafone is to establish a Shared Service Centre in Budapest to deal with commonfinancial processes and transactions across the bulk of the Group. The Shared Service Centre is set to handle simple business transactions such asaccounts payable and business-to-business billing, enabling existing Vodafoneemployees to focus more on business analysis and strategy. The project is expected to be supported by the Hungarian Government under itsinvestment-incentive scheme. Budapest is already home to several shared servicecentres operated by multinational companies. Following a rigorous selection process, Vodafone chose Budapest for a range ofbenefits, including a central location and a sophisticated communicationsnetwork. "There are expected to be clear advantages in basing this Shared Service Centrein Hungary," said Andy Halford, Chief Financial Officer of Vodafone. "TheHungarian Government has made Shared Service Centres a pillar of its nationalgrowth programme. Its support and understanding of the needs of modern businesswill help Vodafone to operate even more efficiently and effectively in acompetitive market." The shared centre forms part of a three-year business transformation programmeaimed at harmonising processes across the Vodafone Group to deliver greaterefficiencies. Under the initiative, Vodafone will set in place a single, integrated EnterpriseResource Planning (ERP) system for finance, supply chain and human resources inall operating companies where the Group has a majority ownership. It is anticipated that the system will deliver a range of business benefits tothe Vodafone Group, including the more efficient use of resources, betterinformation sharing, enhanced business agility and a stronger customer focus. The programme is expected to ensure that Vodafone is even better prepared todeliver on its key strategic objectives of reducing costs in Europe, supportingstrong growth in emerging markets and enhancing the management of its businessportfolio to maximise returns. - ends - For further information: Vodafone Group Investor Relations Media RelationsTel: +44 (0) 1635 664447 Tel: +44 (0) 1635 664444 Cautionary statement regarding forward - looking statements This document contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaningof the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, in particular withrespect to the following expected benefits of the Shared Service Centre inBudapest, Hungary: the more efficient use of resources, better informationsharing, enhanced business agility, stronger customer focus, the ability toharmonise processes and reduce costs in Europe, the ability to support stronggrowth in emerging markets, and the ability to maximise returns. Forward-lookingstatements are sometimes, but not always, identified by their use of a date inthe future or such words as "anticipates", "aims", "due", "could", "may","should", "will", "expects", "believes", "intends", "plans", "targets", "goal"or "estimates". By their nature, forward-looking statements are inherentlypredictive, speculative and involve risk and uncertainty because they relate toevents and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future. There are a number of factors that could cause actual results and developmentsto differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-lookingstatements. These factors include, but are not limited to: changes in economicor political conditions in Hungary and the markets served by the Shared ServiceCentre; changes to or termination of Hungary's investment-incentive scheme; alower than expected impact of the Shared Service Centre on the Group's futurerevenue, cost structure and capital expenditure outlays; the ability tointegrate the Shared Service Centre into the Group's operations and delays,impediments or other problems associated with its establishment; changes in theregulatory framework in which the Group operates, including possible action byregulators in markets in which the Group operates or by the EU regulating theGroup's activities; and the impact of legal or other proceedings against theGroup. Furthermore, a review of the reasons why actual results and developments maydiffer materially from the expectations disclosed or implied withinforward-looking statements can be found under the heading "Forward-LookingStatements" in our interim results announcement for the six months to 30September 2006 and under the heading "Risk Factors, Trends and Outlook £ RiskFactors" in the Group's Annual Report for the financial year ended 31 March2006, both of which are available on our website. All subsequent written or oralforward-looking statements attributable to Vodafone or any member of the Groupor persons acting on their behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety bythe factors referred to above. No assurances can be given that theforward-looking statements in this document will be realised. Neither Vodafonenor any of its affiliates intends to update these forward-looking statements. 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