Lucent goes back to the bank

NEWS Lucent is being forced to renegotiate its multi-billion dollar overdraft. The telecoms equipment manufacturer announced on Tuesday that its total charge for restructuring is likely to be between $7bn and $8bn - almost double the $4bn originally set aside. This technically puts the company in breach of its loan agreement, according to the Financial Times. Lucent will have to go back to the consortium of 30 banks that provided the original loan. Despite the size of the debt and Lucent bonds recently being downgraded to 'junk' status it should be able to extend its credit.