The departing CEO of Vodafone, the largest mobile phone company in the world, has denied rumours the British firm might withdraw its major sports sponsorships such as the title backing of the McLaren formula one team.

The company suffered a major plunge in its share price earlier this week, moving chief executive Arun Sarin - who hands over to his successor early next week - to launch a number of cost-saving measures.

"But he insisted this was unlikely to lead to either big redundancies or an end to (Vodafone's) sport sponsorship," the British newspaper The Sun reports.

Source: GMM