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Technology Stocks : MONI - Marconi Nasdaq ADR -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: David Hansen who wrote (109)	12/21/2001 6:48:08 AM
From: elmatador	Respond to of 129

Is heading Argentina's way: "Marconi cut, restructuring needed." But the cuts and the restructuring never comes. So it slowly dives into oblivion. The British financial establishment cannot stomach a total collapse of MONI. Too much for their egoes. So it stucks its head into the sand and prod on. Juts post-poning the inevitable painful collapse. Marconi cut, restructuring needed ABN says Marconi's competitive position is 'weak' By Friedel Rother, FTMarketWatch.com 12:16:00 PM GMT Dec 19, 2001 LONDON (FTMW) - ABN Amro told investors to get out of Marconi on Wednesday and said the troubled telecoms equipment maker would almost certainly have to launch a new round of restructuring. "We do not see how Marconi can trade its way out of its present predicament. Some form of financial restructuring appears inevitable if Marconi is to be restored to a robust financial and commercial position. It is hard not to conclude that this should happen sooner rather than later," ABN Amro wrote. ABN Amro now rates Marconi [UK:MONI, News, Chart, Research] a "sell" versus its earlier "hold" rating and recommends that investors look to France's Alcatel [FR:013000, News, Chart, Research] or Spirent [UK:SPT, News, Chart, Research] as alternatives. It also set a target price of 23p for the troubled telecom equipment provider, 38 per cent below its current trading price of 37p. In the past year, Marconi shares have hit a high of 810p and a low of 12.25p. Can Marconi keep pace? The Dutch bank then went on to describe Marconi's [US:MONI, News, Chart, Research] competitive position as weak and in danger of getting worse. "The optical transmission business is a good one, but it will need significant investment in R&D to keep pace with the competition. Marconi may be unable to fund that investment," said ABN. As for Marconi's £3.5bn debt load, ABN Amro said it should be halved. Marconi chief executive, Mike Parton, has said he hopes to cut that debt to between £2.7bn and £3.2bn by March. However, the Dutch bank added that it didn't expect to see Marconi reducing its net debt for some time. The report from ABN comes one day after Marconi said it was selling its optical network components business to rival Bookham Technology [UK:BHM, News, Chart, Research] for a 9.99 per cent stake in Bookham. See more on Marconi, Bookham deal Most agree Go deeper News Alerts MarketPulse News Stories Europe US Global News by Email Other analysts who cover Marconi seem to agree that the group is facing considerable difficulties. French brokerage Oddo Pinatton recently said the group's operating conditions were "very fragile" and it was therefore adopting "very cautious sales estimates beyond 2003." SG Securities, meanwhile, recently said that Marconi's debt was a "key concern" and placed a 15p price target on the shares. By contrast, Teather & Greenwood is one of the few with a more optimistic outlook. It rates Marconi a "strong buy" and says the shares are worth 65p.

To: David Hansen who wrote (109)	12/28/2001 12:56:27 PM
From: elmatador	Respond to of 129

Oh, by the way, I am researching Marconi, to see if it is also run by the creditors too.

To: David Hansen who wrote (109)	1/20/2002 5:24:54 PM
From: elmatador	Respond to of 129

"the new loan that would be tantamount to [giving the banks] partial seniority". This is what I mean a company run byt the creditors. Marconi nears deal on fresh $4.3bn loan facility By Caroline Daniel in London Published: January 20 2002 21:01 \| Last Updated: January 20 2002 21:09 Marconi, the UK telecoms equipment group, is understood to be close to agreeing the framework of a new loan facility of up to £3bn ($4.35bn), replacing its two existing arrangements. Although bank creditors indicated that progress had been made, and they were willing to offer Marconi breathing space to sort out its trading problems, one leading creditor stressed that agreement had still not been reached. Marconi declined to comment on Sunday. Last week Steve Hare, finance director, suggested that Marconi would not be rushed into a resolution. "Although we said ideally we would like to resolve this by the end of March, there isn't actually a fixed timetable," he said. The steering committee of Marconi's banks - led by HSBC and Barclays - is expected to meet the wider group of 31 creditor banks on Monday to recommend a framework for refinancing Marconi's debt. The banks are expected to propose a new facility of up to £3bn, which would "subsume all the companies' current credit requirements, with the working capital lines also tied into the new facility," said one person involved with the talks. Marconi's current E3bn ($2.64bn) facility expires in March 2003. The new facility would run until mid to late 2005. As part of the agreement, Marconi would be expected to repay some of its debts. The company has raised about £1.5bn from disposals in the past few months. Last week it spent £110m to buy back bonds with a face value of £200m. Marconi's bondholders are concerned that the company may give creditors a superior claim on its assets as part of a new loan. One investment banker suggested that "although technically the creditors will not have security over the assets, there are elements of the new loan that would be tantamount to [giving the banks] partial seniority".