Sonera's cheerless quarter

NEWS Shares in Finnish mobile operator Sonera fell ten per cent this morning after the company reported losses four times higher than analysts had forecast. Shares on the Helsinki stock exchange were down ten per cent at the open of trade, but recovered to 1.5 per cent down. Sonera's third quarter loss was E325m (£203m) compared with a profit of E738m (£462m) year earlier. Loss per share, excluding one-off charges, was 44 cents, compared with a profit of 99 cents a year ago. Analysts predicted a loss of ten cents per share. The company has debt of E4.4bn (£2.7bn), higher than its current market value. Much of that debt comes from last year's acquisition of 3G licences, and the development of new wireless services. Sonera said it will look to repay debts with a one E1bn (£626m) rights issue. Sonera had its credit rating cut over the past few months by most of the ratings agencies. The rights issue is part of a move to reduce company debt by E2.5bn (£1.5bn) this year. The issue price will be decided on November 9.