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Politics : High Tolerance Plasticity -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: kodiak_bull who wrote (18963)	2/21/2003 12:43:33 PM
From: Libbyt	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 23153

OMG... Upgraded to buy.... "DJ OM Group Up -3: Co. Said Fixing Its Balance Sheet >OMG Banc of America's Gulley raised his investment rating on OM Group's stock to buy from hold earlier, noting that the company has come up with $425 million to meet debt covenants at the end of the year. Furthermore, OM Group plans to sell at least its minority stake in Degussa Metals Catalysts Cerdec - the German precious metals company it bought a stake in back in 2001. The transaction is "complex" and will take some time to complete, the analyst said in his research note, but Degussa has attractive margins, and "should attract interest from financial and strategic buyers." The sale of Degussa implies divesting one of the company's best assets, Gulley said. But "everyone knows" OM Group has to "fix its balance sheet and will do what they have to." The company is also selling three of its non-core base metal chemical businesses for up to $100 million. OM Group management has targeted the first half of 2003 for the sale of these operations, a timeline deemed "reasonable" by the analyst. Gully personally owns no OM Group stock, but his firm has a history of receiving fees for investment banking from the company. Furthermore, the company should be able to improve pretax income, allowing OM Group to "return back toward a normalized tax rate in the low 30s" by 2005, said Gulley. " -By Adam L. Freeman; Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5023 adam.freeman@dowjones.com (END) Dow Jones Newswires