02/04/2002

Bondholders allow delay in NTL's debt repayments

A committee of bondholders in NTL have told the debt-ridden cable company not to pay the £66 million in interest that was due to be paid on Monday April 1.

The move affords temporary relief to the UK's biggest cable company, which is currently operating with debts totalling £12 billion.

NTL now has a 30-day “period of grace” in which to make a final decision on whether to make the payment.

The company on Monday said it had the funds to meet the interest obligations and continue trading but had decided to withhold the payment at the request of the company’s more sympathetic bondholders.

It said the request came from an unofficial committee of bondholders who indicated they were representing the holders of about 50 per cent of NTL and its subsidiaries' bonds.

If NTL fails to make the payment within the 30 days, it will formally default on its debt - a move that is widely expected to pave the way for bondholders to swap their debt for a controlling shareholding in the company.

NTL ran up its massive debts after a rapid expansion programme in which it built cable networks and bought up other cable companies operating in the UK.

Reports that the company was heading for trouble with its finances surfaced last year, and in February this year NTL announced it appointed advisers to lead a complex restructuring of its debts.

(AMcE)

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