Deutsche Bank stays at 'buy' on Vodafone, says shares 'cheap'

They also pointed out that energy costs remained a headwind.

In their judgement, the company's limited progress on following through with several of the opportunities that investors spied at the end of 2021 were the cause of the company's languishing share price.

Among Vodafone's misses on its operational priorities were the transformation of its operations in Germany and Spain and as regarded EU funding.

So too, the telecommunications operator had yet to deliver on strategic opportunities in towers, in-market consolidation and the transfer of ownership of Vodafone Egypt to its South African company Vodacom.

Nonetheless, analyst Robert Grindle said in a research note sent to clients: "lack of action has allowed a narrative to develop that VOD is not in control of its destiny.

"This is harsh and like buses arriving all at once, we see the potential for meaningful catalysts which in the context of a cheap valuation should prove cathartic."

Even so, Grindle lowered his target price for Vodafone's shares from 225.0p to 215.0p.

As of 0851 BST, shares of Vodafone were little changed, trading up by 0.06% to 108.84p, although they remained near their September 2020 lows.