By editorial@silicon.com, 20 November 2000 15:39
NEWS Executives of the troubled telco are setting out this week across Europe in a series of roadshows fund the bond issue, which it is hoped will raise between $6bn and $8bn on the New York market. The move is described as being "a housekeeping measure" to replace short term debt with cheaper long term debt and will almost double the company's bonded debt. The issue had been planned for some time as the company is facing a colossal debt of £30bn by March next year due to overseas investments and bidding for 3G licences. This could be BT's last opportunity to borrow money in this way as a restructured company might not attract the same credit rating as the current one. Details of the issue could not be released until after the closed period of the company's interim results and the announcement of plans to restructure the company. Pre-tax profits for the second quarter fell to £471m, from £890m a year earlier. Geoffrey Davies
In order to post a comment you need to be registered and logged in.
Log in or create your silicon.com account below