Troubled pharmaceutical group Elan has postponed its annual meeting until August 19th, giving it more time to put in place a restructuring plan to ensure the company's long-term survival.
The delay in holding the meeting, originally due to take place on July 31st, will also allow Elan's new executive committee extra time to get to grips with the situation at the troubled company.
Elan still expects to report its second-quarter earnings at the end of July.
However, the company is not now expected to provide the long-awaited guidance to the market on its earnings outlook.
"At this stage, the focus is on the recovery plan," an Elan spokesman said, adding the drive was to have this in place by the end of July.
The news came too late to affect trading in Dublin, where Elan's shares closed 20 cents higher at €2.30.
But in New York, where they are mainly traded, the stock closed 4.27 per cent lower at $2.24, having earlier been up by nearly 13 per cent.
Elan investors, who have seen the shares collapse by more than 90 per cent since January, have been looking to the second-quarter earnings report and annual meeting to get more information about the company and its prospects.
Concerns that the company could face a credit crunch over the medium term have grown in recent weeks as Elan's hefty debt obligations have become public.
The company must meet obligations of more than $900 million (€908.5 million) between now and the end of 2003, when it faces a $1 billion convertible bond. Last week, Elan announced plans to raise $1 billion through asset sales over the next nine months and restructure its operations.
The company also announced a a management shake-up as Elan's chairman and chief executive, Mr Donal Geaney, also stepped down from his position, along with the company's vice-chairman, Mr Tom Lynch.
They were replaced by a five-member executive committee, headed by Elan's newly appointed chairman, Dr Garo Armen.
He will chair the annual general meeting, which will take place in Dublin's Burlington Hotel in August.
Meanwhile, the prospects for the company were dented by the recent announcement that rival drugmakers had received approval for generic versions of its key drug Zanaflex.
