Chris Gent: Upbeat message for the market

He is stepping down in July after six years running the business.

His basic salary is just over �1m ($1.6m) but, if he has met certain share price and other financial targets, then bonuses and share options could add just under �5m to that figure.

Full details of the payment will not be released until the middle of June, when the company publishes its annual report.

Shares creep up

Although the payout comes at a time of growing shareholder unrest about so-called fat cat pay, Vodafone's executive pay was approved by shareholders last year.

Chris Gent was very acquisitive, and the perception is that the new man will be more operationally focused Robert Grindell, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein

And Sir Chris is likely to keep investors happy when he unveils his final set of financial results on Tuesday.

He is expected to announce a surge in pre-tax profits, and predict that the firm's performance will remain buoyant in the months ahead.

"We anticipate strong forward guidance, (and) an upbeat tone from the departing chief executive," investment bank Lehman Brothers said in a research note.

In the City, Newbury-based Vodafone's shares crept 1.8% higher on Friday as investors bought up the stock in anticipation of good news when the markets reopen after the bank holiday weekend.

3G jitters

The world's biggest mobile phone operator is also thought likely to keep intact the book value of its licences to operate mobile internet services, bought for a whopping �14bn ($22.7bn ; 19.3bn euros) at government auctions three years ago.

Maintaining the value of its so-called 3G licences will send out a signal that Vodafone is confident it can still make money from mobile internet services.

Arun Sarin takes over in July

Since downgrades in the value of 3G licences or other assets have to be written off against profits, the decision to leave them unchanged will also help shore up Vodafone's financial performance, ensuring that Sir Chris's final message to the market will be a positive one.

Most of Vodafone's rivals have, in recent months, thrown in the towel and slashed the value of their 3G licences, acknowledging that their cost will probably never be covered by revenues from the new technology.

Earlier this month, Vodafone's main British rival, MM02, sank �10.2bn into the red after marking down its licences by nearly �6bn.

The figure was the second biggest loss in British corporate history, beaten only by the �13.5bn black hole that opened up in Vodafone's own bottom line last year after it was forced to write off part of the value of its acquisitions.

There has been speculation that Vodafone's decision to preserve the value of its 3G licences is designed partly to spare Sir Chris's blushes.

But most analysts believe that the company's sheer size makes it the most likely to profit from 3G technology.

"There won't be a writedown," Robert Grindell, telecoms analyst at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein told BBC News Online.

"Vodafone might well have better crack of the whip than MM02, and stands a better chance of getting a return."

Acquisition trail

The market will also be looking for reassurances from Sir Chris's successor, Arun Sarin, that the firm plans to pause for breath after a series of expensive acquisitions in recent years.

Global mobile markets are maturing and over the longer term we expect revenues to move in line with (economic) growth, if not lower. Mark James, Nomura

"Chris Gent was very acquisitive, and the perception is that the new man will be more operationally focused," said Mr Grindell.

"Investors will be looking for a lot less risk on the mergers and acquisitions front."

Sir Chris transformed Vodafone from a small British operator into a global giant through a wave of buy-outs, culminating in the 180bn euro takeover of Germany's Mannesman three years ago.

The company paid for most of its takeovers with stock, taking advantage of a soaring share price which briefly made Vodafone the biggest firm on the London Stock Exchange by market value.

But its shares have fallen sharply since then, weighed down by the realisation that global demand for mobile communications is levelling off after several years of breakneck growth.

This has put the company under pressure to deliver returns to shareholders through higher annual payouts - or dividends - instead.

"We expect mounting pressure on companies such as Vodafone to return more cash to shareholders," Mark James, telecoms analyst at Nomura, told BBC News Online.