KPN, the beleaguered Dutch telecommunications company, yesterday said it was having difficulty coping with its debt crisis through the disposal of non-core assets. However, the group, which owns 21 per cent of Eircom, said it ruled out the sale of its fixed-line network.
With its shares at a record low, the company is braced for a further credit rating downgrade in the wake of the collapse last week of merger talks with Belgacom.
KPN has banked just €600 million from the disposal of non-core assets Net debt still stands at €22.8 billion, the largest part attributable to KPN's mobile operations and, within those, E-Plus, its German unit, which accounts for €13.3 billion of the total.
Operational cash flow will be less than the level of capital expenditure this year and next, and so will not help ease debt. Meanwhile, the €5 billion KPN wanted from selling non-core assets is unlikely to be realised.
Meanwhile Deutsche Telecom shares fell to a three and a half year low yesterday following concern about an over supply of stock after a shares lock up period expired.
