Ascom says finances solid

Urs Fischer, chief executive of Ascom Keystone

Shares in Ascom have bounced back as the Bern-based technology group has once more come out in its own defence saying its financial situation is sound.

The company said on Wednesday that revenues in 2001 rose 1.7 per cent to SFr3.115 billion ($1.87 billion).

Ascom also said that at the end of the fourth quarter of 2001, its net interest-bearing debt was below SFr700 million.

“Overall the financial situation of Ascom is stable. The board of directors and the executive board are convinced that sufficient measures have been initiated to permit the debt to be substantially reduced over the mid-term,” it said in a statement.

It did not say where the debt level was at the start of the fourth quarter, but said that during the final three months of 2001, it had succeeded in reducing its net working capital by a “three-digit million amount”.

Bounce back

Shares in the company surged 23 per cent higher on Wednesday.

Rumours that the company had been denied a credit line by a bank had hit its shares on Tuesday, causing Ascom to issue a strong denial.

Shares in Ascom were at one point down 33 per cent, ending the previous session off 29 per cent at SFr16.00.

During 2001, Ascom shares plunged 72.4 per cent and they lost another 22 per cent already this year by Monday’s close. Its high stands at SFr300 in February 2000, when independent banker Ernst Mueller-Mohl was campaigning for a single-share structure and a seat on the supervisory board.

Ascom said on Wednesday it had agreed with creditor banks in December to continue existing bank credits and it was granted a new credit of SFr80 million with these banks.

This enabled Ascom to meet all financial commitments including repayment of a SFr125 million franc bond which became due in December 2001.

It also said that it remained confident that the sale of its Mailing Systems Business Unit would proceed as planned, despite a delay due to the referral of the deal to Britain’s Competition Commission.

The group has divested four business units since last February, selling its carrier access, cash handling, terminals and mailing systems units.

Return to profit in 2002

Asom chief executive Urs Fischer said in December he expected a return to profit in 2002 after an expected loss of more than SFr100 million for 2001.

Fischer has been in charge since February 2001 after a top management shuffle followed a power clash between old owners and Mueller-Mohl who campaigned for shareholder value.

swissinfo with agencies