All the big numbers from Vodafone recently have been asset writedowns. This August will be different. Including its final dividend, the mobile operator will pay £11.3bn in cash to shareholders. This distribution is £3bn higher than expected and equates to 15 per cent of equity value. Arun Sarin, chief executive, has his critics but no-one can deny that under his watch Vodafone’s finances have been transformed.

The balance sheet will no longer be run on a war-footing. Pro-forma net debt, after August’s dividends, of £25bn is a fairly high 2.2 times last year’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation. Vodafone will distribute 60 per cent of ongoing earnings. Since just under a third of profits come from associate Verizon Wireless, which pays no dividends, the underlying pay-out is closer to 80 per cent.