Marconi shrinks its debts

NEWS Marconi has made another step towards reducing its debt by selling its 50 per cent stake in Hotpoint for £121m. In reaction to the announcement the company's share price gained almost ten per cent taking it to 36.99p - a far cry from early 2000 when a Marconi share was worth over £12. It's been a money-spinning week for Marconi. It has generated almost £350m this week from selling off various non-core assets. Half-year results from the company announced in November showed it reduced pro forma debt to £3.5bn. In a statement to the LSE, Mike Parton, Marconi chief executive, said: "The agreement to sell our non-core interest in GDA helps us in our programme to focus on our core communications business. "With both this transaction and the recently announced sale of Marconi Commerce Systems, we look set to realise our £500 million cash from disposals target by March 2002."