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Paris (pte033/24.03.2003/13:41) - Debt-ridden telecommunications group France Telecom (FT) http://www.francetelecom.com announced today it had initiated a long awaited capital increase as part of its 45bn euro rescue plan.
The group plans to sell up to 15bn euros in new shares to help relieve its mountain of debt. The French government will purchase 9bn euros in shares; the rest is to be sold on the free market. A new share will cost 14.5 euros - about 75 per cent of this weekend's value.
The rights issue is part of the "FT 2005" programme, which CEO Thierry Breton hopes will decrease the debt pile from 70bn euros to 45bn euros by 2005. By the end of 2002, FT's debts had reached 68bn euros.
Not long ago, the telecoms giant posted a record loss of 20.7bn euros, the highest loss in the history of French economy. Last week France Telecom sold its share in the Italian telecoms firm Wind to Enel in an effort to reduce its debt (see pte: http://pressetext.com/pte.mc?pte=030321025&phrase=Enel ).
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