Vodafone says annual profit slumps on eurozone woes

LONDON: British mobile phone giant Vodafone said Tuesday that annual net profits tumbled 90 percent after it took a vast £7.7-billion ($11.7 billion, 9.1-billion-euro) impairment charge relating to its businesses in debt-laden eurozone nations Italy and Spain.

Earnings after taxation nosedived to £673 million in the group's financial year to the end of March, compared with £7.0 billion in 2011-2012, Vodafone said in a results statement.