European Stocks Fall; Deutsche Telekom, France Telecom Decline
By Alistair Barr
02/15 03:43
quote.bloomberg.com
London, Feb. 15 (Bloomberg) -- European stocks fell, led by phone companies after Qwest Communications International Inc. had to borrow $4 billion from banks because it couldn't get loans from money-market investors. Deutsche Telekom AG and France Telecom SA led declines.
The Dow Jones Stoxx 50 Index fell for the first day in three, shedding 15.44 points, or 0.4 percent, to 3570.28 and extending its loss in 2002 to 3.7 percent.
``The problem for telecom companies in particular is less the amount of debt than the fact that it has to be refinanced,'' said Michael O'Sullivan, a strategist at Commerzbank Securities, in a note to clients. ``Any concerns in the corporate-debt markets are immediately translated into the equity market.''
More than 70 billion euros ($61 billion) of telecom debt has to be refinanced by 2005, Commerzbank estimates.
Deutsche Telekom, Europe's biggest phone company, slid 32 cents, or 2 percent, to 15.50 euros. The company, which has a market value of 65 billion euros, aims to cut its debt to 50 billion euros by the end of the year.
Qwest, the No. 4 U.S. local-phone company, said after U.S. exchanges closed it was tapping a credit line arranged by J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corp. and paying off all $3.2 billion of its commercial paper used to fund daily business. Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's cut ratings on Qwest's debt. |
