Boston, MA 10/04/2013 (wallstreetpr) – Vodafone Group Plc (ADR) (NASDAQ:VOD) has accepted in a statement that its server in Germany was hacked, news that won’t go well with many investors and clients. The hacker is believed have hacked the company’s server accessing personal details and banking information for 2 million customers. The hacker according to inside information is believed to have walked away with names, addresses, birth dates and bank account information for the clients.
The hack attack was detected in early September with the company not sure for how long the hacker might have been hacking their systems. After the announcement of the incident the company’s stock fell by about 0.8% to trade at $208.40 translating to a market value of 101 billion pounds or equivalent $158 billion. The statement from Vodafone indicates the attack only affected clients in Germany and not its other entities across Europe. This is a massive blow to Vodafone as Germany on its own contributes a big pie of the company’s revenue and accounted for 18% of sales in the fiscal year ending March 31.
It’s only a matter of time before we see whether, this latest developments will affect its $10.2 billion takeover of Deutschland Holding AG which is Germanys biggest cable company. This acquisition will enable Vodafone increase its customer loyalty through packages that will combine phone, internet and TV services. In other news its Chief Financial Officer Andy Halford has informed the company board of his desire to step down at the end of his contract in 2014 after the conclusion of Vodafone’s transaction with Verizon communication Inc. The company has also gone forth and appointed Nick Read as his predecessor who will take up the position in the acting capacity as from January 1. Nick Read joined Vodafone in 2001 and was the company’s Chief Financial Officer for the UK operating company.
