Vodafone to pay 2 bn stg special dividend

LONDON, UK: Vodafone, the world's largest mobile operator by revenue, plans to pay out 2 billion pounds to shareholders after it gets a 2.8 billion dividend from Verizon Wireless.

Vodafone said on Friday it intends to distribute the 2 billion pounds ($3.3 billion) to shareholders via a special dividend of 4 pence per share in February 2012.

The $4.5 billion total payment to Vodafone, a 45 per cent shareholder in U.S. wireless service Verizon Wireless, is $1 billion less than the amount the British company's chief financial officer said he expected as recently as June 30.

Vodafone has not received a payout from Verizon Wireless since 2005, in large part because Verizon has focused on paying down debt.

The British company said it would use the balance of the proceeds to reduce its debt.

Shares in Vodafone closed at 165.4 pence on Thursday, valuing the group at 83.7 billion pounds.