Vodafone Group Plc (LON:VOD) shares were given a much-needed boost on Thursday after Barclays repeated its bullish outlook for the struggling telecoms giant.
Back in May, the FTSE 100 firm was forced to slash its dividend by 40%, freeing up cash to support its 5G rollout plans and debt repayment.
The cut came alongside disappointing full-year results, which saw the company swing to a huge €7.6bn loss, due in part to increased competition in Spain and Italy.
READ: Berenberg sticks 'buy' rating on Vodafone
Despite the recent troubles, Barclays analysts repeated their ‘overweight’ rating as well as their punchy 200p price target for the stock.
“We still see a clear value opportunity, and potentially near-term catalysts to help unlock the discount to our 200p price target, with hopefully no operational deterioration in 1Q,” they said in a note to clients.
Among those near-term catalysts is the €18mln acquisition of Liberty Global’s cable networks in Germany and eastern Europe, which Barclays expects to complete later this month.
Updating their forecasts, the number crunchers reckon the deal will add €1.7bn to this year’s underlying earnings (EBITDA) and €200mln to free cash flow.
Vodafone shares climbed 1.4% to 133.3p on Thursday morning, clawing back some of this year’s losses.