Vodafone calls

I can just imagine how frustrated Vodafone's bosses get by Britain's arcane write-down laws. Once again, the most cash-generative company in the world posts a loss in the billions.

All of which is complete crap - since it relates to a write-down of costs incurred many years ago. $112bn for Mannesman: an inflated cost, perhaps, but it was paid in equally overvalued paper, and thus the real loss to Vodafone is about zero. And yet this company - which made £8bn of real positive cashflow last year, not funny money - is legally obliged to post a £15bn loss.

Who are we fooling here? Not the markets; Vodafone's stock jumped on the news. Not Vodafone itself; it's announced plans to return further billions to shareholders. I've always been a fan of Vodafone, and not just as a longterm customer; this company's got real vision - worldwide coverage and brand - in a world that so often lacks it. Some accounting laws need rewriting, big time.