They are going to report earnings growth of 55% to 60% and that's about as good as anyone in the top half of the Footsie has achieved

John Tysoe, telecoms analyst

Analysts are predicting that the company will write off between �8bn and �15bn as it reassesses the value of the companies it bought at the height of the telecoms boom.

The exact figure has been the subject of intense speculation in the past few weeks, with estimates initially ranging between �10m and �25m.

Whatever the size of the write-down, Vodafone chief executive Sir Chris Gent will be doing his best to focus on the company's underlying performance.

Chinese stake

But investors are likely to be disappointed because Vodafone is thought to be abandoning plans for a share buyback, and resisting calls for an increase in the dividend, an annual payment to shareholders.

If Vodafone does write off a substantial proportion of its investments, then it will make a big loss for the financial year to the end of March.

Six months ago, it cut �4.5bn from the value of recent acquisitions, including its Arcor fixed-line business in Germany.

Analysts said that Vodafone might now reassess the value of its stake in China Mobile and of its fixed-line operations in France.

Sliding shares

Excluding write-downs, Vodafone is expected to report pre-tax profits of between �5.6bn and �6.25bn, up from �4bn the previous year.

Sir Chris Gent will focus on underlying performance

Vodafone, like other telecoms companies, has seen its share price fall sharply because of slower subscriber growth and doubts over the money-spinning potential of the next generation of mobile phones.

Earlier this month, Vodafone's shares fell to 92.5 pence, their lowest level for more than two years, although they recovered some ground to close at 105p on Monday.

At their height, in March 2000, they were worth 399p

John Tysoe, a telecoms analyst at West LB Panmure, said the company had little to worry about in spite of its sliding share price.

"They are going to report earnings growth of 55% to 60% and that's about as good as anyone in the top half of the Footsie has achieved," he said.