BT Debt Reduction Programme Continues

BT rumored to be about to go ahead with a £5bn rights issue in yet another attempt to cut the size its substatntial debt mountain. BT's share price will be further dilluted and the new shares are expected to be sold at substantially reduced price. We have been unable to confirm as to whether shareholders have approved this course of action and there appears to be no firm timeframe for this action.

BT has agreed to sell its 33% stake in Malaysian subsidiary Maxis Communications. The sale of this stake to Usaha Tegus, one of the other partners in the venture, will net BT £350m.

Earlier this week, the Oftel pricing probe into BT 'offers' 'Surf Together' and 'Talk and Surf Together' ended. Oftel has concluded that these 'offers', in its opinion, are not anti-competitive, although most competitors and customers would be inclined to disagree. Both these 'offers' apply only to offpeak calls/Internet access, and are hence of little interest to the majority of Internet users.