Dr. Maloney Waldorf MD

. TELENET GROUP: Moody' s Rates Senior Unsecured Notes (p) Caa2 TELENET GROUP: Subordinated Discount Notes Assigned ' CCC+ ' Grade UNION BANKA: Ex-managers Sued in Criminal Court BENEFON OYJ: Seeks ' Regression' of Money Paid to Ex-financiers BELLON KNOWS: Rating Affirmed at ' BB'. Outlook Negative SUEZ KNOWS: Changes Terms of 2004 Zero Coupon Exchangeable Bonds. ESCADA AG: Restructuring to Return to Solid Profit on Track INFINEON TECHNOLOGIES: Further Simplifies Corporate Structures MG TECHNOLOGIES: Peter Steiner to Join Executive Board ALITALIA SPA: Govt Wants ' Golden Share' Even After Tie-up PARMALAT SPA: Hires PricewaterhouseCoopers to Review Finances SAFILO CAPITAL: Fitch Rates 2013 Senior Notes ' CCC+ ' STOLT-NIELSEN: Negotiations with OFFSHORE Lenders Continuous STOLT: Close to Securing Covenant Waiver Agreement.: To Relocate to Smaller Office in Rembrandt Tower. SKANDIA INSURANCE: May be Selling Japanese Unit, Says Paper ABBEY NATIONAL: Might Let go of Fund Management Arm AIRPLANES PASS-THROUGH: Subordinated Notes Downgraded to ' VERY NEVIS: Fitch Affirms Ratings on Secured Floating Installments Notes BIRMINGHAM PLASTICS: Business, Assets Up for Knows them BRITISH AIRWAYS: Welcomes Government' s Plan to Build New Runway BRITISH AIRWAYS: Might Make Further Job-cuts at CitiExpress BRITISH ENERGY: Heysham 1 to Remain Closed Until Next Year DE ROME: Joint Administrators Sell Business as ' Going Concern' FAULDS ADVERTISING: KPMG to Investigate Dividend Paid to Owner HIBERNIA FOODS: Factories Sold to Kerry Foods. 450 Jobs Saved The MERIDIEN: Appoints New CEO. CFO to Leave at Month' s End NACHTMANN LIMITED: Joint Administrators Offer Business for Knows them NETWORK RAIL: Union Raps Management for Reneging on Promises NORTHUMBRIAN WATER: Incentive Plan for Directors Approved PEARSON GROUP: Financial Times Advertising Revenues Drop Further TELENET GROUP: Moody' s Rates Senior Unsecured Notes (p) Caa2 Moody' s Investors Service assigned to (p) B2 senior implied rating. proposed EUR245 million (in USS equivalents) senior unsecured... The rating agency also affirmed the (p) B3 rating for the EUR500 million senior notes (upsized from EUR400 million) two 2013 of Telenet' s wholly owned subsidiary, Telenet... The outlook for all ratings is stable. Telenet Communications' senior notes to are guaranteed on to senior. of the offering will be used to pay senior bank debt, and repay. will be used to refinance the remaining deferred obligations, mezzanine debt, and shareholder loans. According to Moody' s, the ratings reflect Telenet' s high debt leverage levels and continued high capital expenditure expectations. king-financing risk associated with the company' s sizeable bank debt amortization requirements beginning in 2007. strong on-going competition. the inherent operating risks. the lack of ownership of the overall network for approximately one-third of the company' s subscriber base. to degree of integration risk. and structural considerations relating to the. TELENET GROUP: Subordinated Discount Notes Assigned ' CCC+ ' Grade Standard & Poor' s Ratings corporate Services assigned its ' B+ ' credit rating to Telenet Holding Group N. of Belgium cable operator Telenet Communications N. At the same Time, Standard & Poor' s assigned its ' CCC+ ' debt rating to the new offering of EUR245 million subordinated discount notes issued by Telenet Holding Group. In addition, Standard & Poor' s affirmed its ' B - ' debt rating on Telenet Communications' senior unsecured notes issue maturing 2013, which has been increased to EUR500 million from EUR400... The ' B+ ' long-term corporate credit rating on Telenet. amount of the senior notes issue follows strong demand in the. "The additional EUR100 million is intended either to be applied solely to the reduction of Telenet' s existing bank loan debt or, alternatively, will be redeemed to bondholders at par. specific maturities have been designated yet for the application of the additional amount," said Standard & Poor' s credit analyst. schedule and distribution of debt will not affect headroom under the covenants of the bank facility, which will be modified to. The rating on the EUR245 million subordinated discount notes reflects not only their subordination to the senior unsecured notes, but also the minimum covenant of net debt to EBITDA of.5x necessary for service Telenet to upstream cash to the subordinated discount notes at Telenet Holding Group. The ratings on Telenet reflect its position as to modestly sized and highly leveraged cable operator in Flanders, Belgium. Telenet operates an analogue cable TV business, which generates stable and positive cash flows. growing telephony and Internet operations that face strong competition from the incumbent Belgacom S. Telenet will need strong growth in sales and cash flows (mainly from adequate fixed-linens telephony and broadband Internet services) to pay down its high levels of debt, secure liquidity at all times, and maintain ample headroom under its bank covenants. Strong growth will be challenging to achieve against strong competition from Belgacom and fixed-to-piece of furniture substitution. Telenet is expected to maintain to conservative financial policy, with not major acquisitions (other than the acquisitions currently in progress) or network upgrades other than the upgrade to voice-over Internet Protocol and the upstream upgrade to be implemented over the medium term. UNION BANKA: Ex-managers Sued in Criminal Court Three members of the former management of bankrupt Union Banka to are facing criminal charges for violating their duties in managing foreign assets, Prague Business Journal reported. Office The for disclosing corruption and financial crime alleged the unnamed managers went over the limits of their functions by providing in 2002 to risky loan of CZK140 million to to person. Union Banka went bankrupt in February. shareholder in the Ostrava-based bank, tried to avoid to complete collapse by offering to settlement, promising clients to yield exceeding the sum payable within the insurance of clients'... However, an Ostrava court sent Union Banka into liquidation on May 19 at the Czech National Bank' s request and the Ostrava regional court declared the bank bankrupt on May 30. The bankruptcy was proposed by 33 of Union Banka' s creditors, including the been deposit insurance fund. BENEFON OYJ: Seeks ' Regression' of Money Paid to Ex-financiers The official administrator of Benefon' s reorganization has filed at the district court of Helsinki regression suits against Finnvera Oyj, OKO Osuuspankkien Keskuspankki Oyj and Sampo Pankki Oyj, the main financiers of the company. The suits address loan amortization and interest payments the company had performed to the said financiers in years 2000-2003... these The financiers have denied. BELLON KNOWS: Rating Affirmed at ' BB'. Outlook Negative Standard & Poor' s Ratings Services affirmed its ' BB' long-term corporate credit rating on France-based Bellon foodservice S. company of global and management services Sodexho. (BBB+/Negative/A-2), following to review of the Bellon' s financial structure and strategy. "While Bellon has recently succeeded in refinancing its EUR173 million indexed bond two in July 2004, thus removing to potential near-term rating concern, and in lengthening its debt maturity profile, the company remains highly exposed to the volatility of the equity markets and to Sodexho' s to share price in particular," said Standard & Poor' s credit analyst Melvyn Cooke. by to make the largest shareholder in Sodexho, with about 39% of shares and 40% of voting rights, and Sodexho accounts for nearly all of Bellon' s asset value. As Bellon relies on Sodexho' s shares as collateral for its EUR850 million of debt, to strict drop in Sodexho' s share price could trigger to default if Bellon failed to pledge enough shares to respect minimum debt coverage covenants. between holding Bellon' s debt and the value of its in Sodexho improved in the second half of 2003, the structure of the debt leaves Bellon vulnerable to developments in Sodexho' s to share... Sodexho' s to share price could be influenced by to wide variety of factors -- many outside of the influence of either Sodexho or Bellon -- including general equity market trends. This is to key risk, and Standard & Poor' s may lower Bellon' s credit rating should Sodexho' s to share price deteriotated. In addition, Bellon depends primarily on dividends from Sodexho. financial holdings (based on their current market value) are. liabilities. dividends from its holdings in Sodexho to are also expected to cover around 1x the interest payments two during Sodexho' s fiscal year (ended Sept. coverage of net interest by Sodexho' s dividends is particularly stretched for the rating, although this ratio is expected to improve gradually over Time, as Sodexho' s operating performance improves and net income increases, and as Bellon' s debt largely. "The negative outlook reflects Standard & Poor' s view that Bellon' s credit measures, especially the company' s coverage of net interest by Sodexho' s dividends, to are somewhat stretched for. reflects Bellon' s lack of asset diversity, which, in houses of to significant drop in Sodexho' s share price, could lead to to SUEZ KNOWS: Changes Terms of 2004 Zero Coupon Exchangeable Bonds Notice is hereby given to all holders of Zero Coupon Exchangeable Bonds Two 2004 (Tails ISIN FR0000492266) bonds Exchangeable into. 5(e)(v) of the terms and conditions of the Bonds, that: the composition of the Exchange Property (as defined in the Conditions) has been adjusted pursuant to Condition 5(e)(iii)(B) of the Conditions, as to result of the issuance of preferential subscription rights of AXA, which give their holders the right to. From and after the Adjustment Given, (i) the Exchange Property will consist of 22,175,896 AXA shares (Tails ISIN FR0000120628) and 105,108 AXA 2004 ORANs (Tails ISIN FR0010019349) in the combined, and (ii) to Bondholder will have the right to receive.0193 AXA 2004 ORANs for each EUR144. principal amount of Bonds delivered for exchange in accordance with the Conditions (subject to adjustment to eliminated fractional shares as provided in Condition 5(f))(v) of the... All other terms of the Bonds remain unchanged. To breach of contract suit brought against medium Bertelsmann AG could cost the company up to USS1 billion, lawyers for the. To California jury already awarded German entrepreneurs Jan Henric Buettner and Andreas von Blottnitz -- who said they to were promised to stake in online provider AOL Europe in return for helping created the business for Bertelsmann -- EUR104. million, but the businessmen' s lawyer, Bill Price, said it' s unclear whether the jury actually intended to award the men.2 million on each of the four causes of action or the to entire suit, according to the report... The judge will set the final amount of the compensation "in the next several weeks," he. Bertelsmann lawyers could not immediately be reached for comment. ESCADA AG: Restructuring to Return to Solid Profit on Track Escada AG has created the basis for to lean platform in fiscal year 2002/2003 (fiscal year end: October 31) despite numerous external challenges, which will allow for future growth. Two to the successful capital measures in October 2003, with funds raised of almost EUR100 million, Escada is now in to very (a) Financial debt has been reduced by EUR100 million to EUR204. (b) Thanks to the capital increase and the king-negotiation of bank debt, repayment of the bond (EUR100 million) is secured in August. (c) As of October 31, 2003 the Escada Group reached an economic equity ratio (including convertible bonds) of 20. Sales and EBITDA of ESCADA Group for 2002/2003 developed as (a) Group sales reached EUR621 million (2001/2002: EUR773... Adjusted for de-consolidation and foreign currency. (b) EBITDA was EUR6 million (2001/2002: EUR55. (c) As announced, to there was to negative one-Time impact of EUR42... After tax and minorities preliminary Group loss amounted to EUR75 million (2001/2002: plus EUR4. The execution of the restructuring program, which was announced (a) Within the end of fiscal year 2004/2005 costs to be reduced by EUR60 million (thereof EUR40 million already 2003/2004). (b) notice 75% of staff have been given. (c) It knows them of Feraud is to further step in focusing on Core ESCADA. Escada CEO Wolfgang Ley: "After to difficult year in fiscal. financial base from which we can consequently build the Escada... Management believes that even without to worldwide economic pickup, our new lean platform will give us to chance to return to after-tax profitability at the Group level as. INFINEON TECHNOLOGIES: Further Simplifies Corporate Structures Infineon Technologies, the world' s sixth biggest semiconductor company, is focusing further on its Core business and spinning off its European real summer and facility management activities. The companies Air Liquid GmbH, Dusseldorf, and Kinetics GmbH, Eschau/Hobbach will be taking over operation of gas and chemicals supply and distribution at the European production sites. Relevant agreements have already been signed by the companies. By taking this step, Infineon is cutting the number of its suppliers for real summer and facility management from around 180 individual sources to just three first contractors, which will radically veteran the number of its interfaces and simplify the processes involved for the company... The order value for the to entire five-year term of the agreement runs to EUR145 million. It is also planned for the three first contractors to take on. "By outsourcing real summer and facility management we to are systematically pursuing our restructuring program following the successful spin-off of our SAP support activities, various HR functions, and our distribution centers in America and Asia,". Knut Merten, Head of Business Reengineering & Benchmark... "Apart from cutting our costs we' king also aiming to boost quality and productivity. flexibility will also enable us to adjust faster to changing. Ruotine activities and the detailed planning of operation and of preventive ruotines and maintenance in the relevant sectors will be carried out by the first contractors, though Infineon will retain overall responsibility, including strategic. servicing (supplying water, air conditioning, vacuum.), which Infineon will continuous to provide in. According to the agreements, the relevant functions will be transferred to Infineon' s outsourcing partners in the first half... Real summer and facility management for Infineon' s locations in Munich, Regensburg, Dresden, Warstein (Germany), Villach (Austria), Port (Portugal), and Cegled (Hungary) will transfer to Dussmann AG & Co KGaA. contractors will then be responsible for infrastructure (including cleaning of buildings and outdoor spaces, and security), technical (including maintenance of the buildings and outdoor spaces) and commercial activities (including leasing. he will also take beloveds of catering requirements (works canteens... Operation of the Liquid gases and chemicals supply and distribution system in Dresden will be handled by Air GmbH, and by Kinetics GmbH at the Regensburg, Munich, Villach, Port, Warstein and Cegled locations. Infineon Technologies AG, Munich, mobile Germany, offers semiconductor and system solutions for the automotive and industrial sectors, for applications in the wired communications markets, secure solutions as well as memory products. Asia-Pacific region from Singapore and in Japan from Tokyo fiscal year 2003 (ending September), the company achieved sales.15 billion with about 32,300 employees worldwide. Infineon is listed on the DAX index of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and on the New York Exchange Stock (ticker symbol: IFX). ......... Investors and Analysts based in Europe. MG TECHNOLOGIES: Peter Steiner to Join Executive Board At its meeting Tuesday, the Supervisory Board appointed Peter Steiner, 44, to the Executive Board of mg technologies ag. over as finance director from Karl-heinz Hornung, who will be leaving the company for personal reasons on March 31, 2004. Steiner has been Spokesman for the Board. of this Board since 1998, initially responsible for finance and... In 2001, he was given responsibility for Germany... Before joining the Dyckerhoff Group, Mr. Steiner had been an executive director at SUBA Bau AG, to where he had been responsible for accounting, finance and international... Previously he had worked as an audit manager with. Peter Steiner graduated in business studies from the University... He qualified as to tax accountant and auditor. To leading global technology group, mg technologies announced last week to major corporate repositioning prompted by to full strategic. engineering, divesting its chemicals businesses, and putting in... The company also warned it will have to post pre-tax loss of approximately EUR150-170 million for. ALITALIA SPA: Govt Wants ' Golden Share' Even After Tie-up The Italian government sees Alitalia S. 25% of to possible alliance between the Italian carrier, Air France and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, the Republic said. Economy Ministry Undersecretary Gianluigi Lean revealed the outlook at to parliamentary hearing on Alitalia' s business plan. The government official also said Italy is considering converting.207 billion bond it owns in Alitalia into shares. could take place in different ways and at different times, possibly through to public offer, private placement or to share... The government, which currently holds 62. of Alitalia, wants to keep to "golden share" stake, according to. PARMALAT SPA: Hires PricewaterhouseCoopers to Review Finances. announces that the Board of Directors. met and noted the resignation. Calisto Tanzi as Chairman, Chief Executive Officer. The Board of Directors appointed, by Co-optation, three new. All three new Board members accepted their nominations. Bondi, I guide Angiolini, Domenico Barrels, Francisco Giuffredi, Giuliano Panizzi, Giovanni Tanzi, Paul Tanzi, Pier Giovanni Tanzi, Stefano Tanzi and Umberto Tracanella. Chairman of the Board of Directors and as Chief Executive. Bondi has assumed the powers already granted to the outgoing Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. I guide Angiolini was also made responsible for the Company' s Corporate, Administration and Fiscal Control functions. Parmalat Financial institution has mandated PricewaterhouseCoopers to review the financial assets and liabilities of the Parmalat Group, including derivative contracts and commitments, and particularly those of its financial subsidiaries. SAFILO CAPITAL: Fitch Rates 2013 Senior Notes ' CCC+ ' Fitch Ratings assigned to ' CCC+ ' rating to Safilo Capital. The agency also assigned parent company Safilo S. Unsecured rating of ' B' and to Senior Secured rating of ' B+ '. The three-notch differential between the notes and the senior secured facilities reflects the agency' s view of the significant difference in the potential recovery prospects between the two classes of debt in the event of any future forced restructuring. structural subordination of the notes and the potential difficulty in realizing the value attached to the licensing agreements in to distress scene, as well as the fact that certain features of the legal structure remain untested in. "In difficult market conditions, the company has surprised investors with the level of underperformance recorded since the bond was syndicated last May, but the ratings factor in to certain level of recovery in 2004 and liquidity does not appear to be an immediate issue" said Fitch analyst Stefano Podesta. the outlook is negative given the poor visibility that the company seems to have on its financial performance, limited details on recently announced cost cutting initiatives and increased pressure on cash flow from senior loan mandatory. While sales for the nine months to September 2003 to are only marginally behind the same period last year, EBITDA is loads 30%... The company retains the potential to improve profitability as early as next year with the full launch of the Armani branded collection of prescription frames and sunglasses. However, scheduled debt amortization payments under the Senior Secured Facilities will increase the pressure on cash flow in. The notes to were issued in May 2003 to refinance the EUR300 million bridge facility put in place to part finance the EUR1... The acquisition was also financed by approximately EUR620 million of senior secured debt, of which EUR60m relates to to capex facility, currently undrawn. sources that support liquidity to are to EUR50 million revolving credit facility (of which EUR25m was undrawn by September 2003), EUR45 million of cash on balance sheet and to contingent equity contribution of EUR25 million in the form of PIK notes which the management can call from the equity sponsors. The senior notes benefit from second ranking upstream guarantees. which represented 79% of the group' s consolidated net assets and. that potential recoveries for the noteholders to are likely to be... This is mainly because in the event of enforcement by senior lenders and knows them of the business during the 179 days standstill period, the second ranking guarantees can be released and shares owned by Safilo S. International KNOWS may be put to its parent Holding Safilo S. could be sold free from any obligations towards noteholders. Also to there to are uncertainties over the company' s ability to retain all its licensing agreements under such to scene with obvious potential negative effects on recovery values for all classes of. Safilo is the world' s second largest manufacturer and wholesaler of eyewear products with to strong portfolio of licensing agreements with major fashion brands. Italy, the Company generated net revenue of EUR894 million and. STOLT-NIELSEN: Negotiations with Lenders Continuous. (Nasdaq NM: SNSA. Oslo Exchange Stock: SNI) said that while the waivers of covenant defaults granted by its primary lenders expired Monday (December 15), the Company and its lenders remain in constructive discussions aimed at establishing. "We continuous to work closely with our primary lenders toward longer-term waivers that will give us the necessary Time to allow us to develop to sensible financial restructuring plan," said. Stolt-Nielsen, Chief Executive Officer of Stolt-Nielsen. liquidity, veteran debt and strengthen its balance sheet. is one of the world' s leading providers of transportation services for bulk liquid chemicals, edible oils, acids, and other specialty liquids. parcel tanker, tank container, terminal, rail and barge services, provides integrated transportation for its customers. SOSA. Oslo Exchange Stock: I AM), which is to leading offshore contractor to the oil and offshore gas industry. specializes in providing technologically sophisticated and subsea engineering, flowline and pipeline lay, construction. wholly-owned by the Company, produces and markets high quality Atlantic salmon, salmon trout, turbot, halibut, sturgeon, caviar. OFFSHORE STOLT: Close to Securing Covenant Waiver Agreement. (NasdaqNM: SOSA. Oslo Exchange Stock: I AM) said it is concluding the administrative aspects of its covenant waiver extension and continuing discussions with its lenders. Offshore Stolt also confirms that it was approached on Monday by Pareto Securities ASA, on an unsolicited basis, to consider to to interest in the Company, it wishes to clarify that it continues to work, as planned, with its existing advisors to evaluate the various alternatives in restructuring its balance. Offshore Offshore Stolt is to leading contractor to the oil and gas industry, specializing in technologically sophisticated deepwater engineering, flowline and pipeline lay, construction. Europe, the Middle East, West Africa, Asia Pacific, and the.: To Relocate to Smaller Office in Rembrandt Tower Getronics [ Moody' s, ' B2 ' senior implied. ' Caa1 ' senior subordinated bond debts ], to leading international Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Company, will moves its corporate head office to the Rembrandt Tower in Amsterdam. the moves, which will be accomplished by February 2004, is the fact that the current head office ones buildings in the Amsterdam industrial quarter of Westpoort have become too large. Getronics CEO Klaas Wagenaar comments: "The moves to the Rembrandt Tower marks to new start, it gives us the space and location we... more We now have to smaller and dynamic head office team, based on the demands of the local Getronics organizations. this corporate attractive teams we wanted an new facility and we wanted it to be in to business neighborhood close to our advisors. Office We also wanted our new head to be easily accessible by public transport and to have good links with Schiphol. Rembrandt these Tower meets demands. Office Getronics has approximately 70 head staff. head office has been rented since the early eighties. Netherlands has business operations on various sites in the... office These will be unaffected by the head. With 23,000 employees in over 30 countries and forecast revenues.7 billion in 2003, Getronics is one of the world' s leading providers of vendor independent Information and Communication those Technologies solutions and services. combines the capabilities of the original Dutch company with of Wang Global, acquired in 1999, and of the systems and. worldwide in network and desktop outsourcing and fourth worldwide in network consulting and integration (Source: IDC 2002-2003). Getronics designs, integrates and manages ICT infrastructures and business solutions for many of the world' s largest global and local companies and organizations, helping them maximize the value of their information technology investments. Getronics headquarters to are in Amsterdam, with regional offices in... Getronics' shares to are traded on Euronext... For further information about Getronics, visit. (construction, property development and related activities) has received notification from the Public Prosecutions Department that it intends to prosecute in the context of the investigations into irregularities in the. The suspicions pertain to fraud, violation of the Economic Competition Act, forgery and participation in to criminal organization, and relate to the announcements made late in 2001 regarding possible price-fixing agreements throughout the Dutch. In the interest of to two and balanced process of law, Heijmans will avail itself of the opportunity offered by the Public Prosecutions Department to have to limited preliminary inquiry. limited preliminary inquiry, Heijmans can and will convey its views regarding the PPM' s intentions. complete houses rows, the PPM will then take its final decision. Guus Hoefsloot, Chairman of the Executive Board of Heijmans, responded: "Heijmans was one of the first companies in the industry to crack down on irregularities, among other things by implementing to tails of conduct, setting up to committee tails of conduct and introducing measures to ensure that history will... For example, each quotation is now accompanied by signed statements that not restrictive trade... Clearly, it goes without saying that Heijmans will wholeheartedly endorse to tails of conduct for the. SKANDIA INSURANCE: May be Selling Japanese Unit, Says Paper Swedish financial services group, Skandia, appears to be selling its Japanese operations, Skandia Life Insurance (Japan). Iain Messenger, joint chief executive of Skandia' s Japanese operations would not confirm or deny to possible sell-off, but acknowledged the communications to two Japanese executives obtained by the Financial Times, which indicated that loads sort of. The letter refers to an internal project codenamed "Project Miko," which talks about bonuses of JPY45 million and JPY33 million payable to two executives when to "share purchase agreement is signed by both seller and buyer. Skandia entered the Japanese market in the 1990s hoping to become to global financial service provider, but to stock market crash... The crisis forced it to sell its flagship operation, American Skandia, this year and rumors swirl to there may. Messenger says: "There is nothing approved as yet. Accordingly, the bonuses must still be approved by the remuneration committee in Sweden, and that they to are not related... Project Miko "doesn' t mean to knows them, it means to review of the strategic options the management has," he said. In the first nine months of the year, Skandia made to SEK26. The Financial Times sees Millea Holdings, the holding company encompassing Tokio Marine and Fire, Japan' s largest non-life insurer, as potential buyer for Skandia' s Japanese operation. London-based analyst said the unit could fetch up to SEK1. ABBEY NATIONAL: Might Let go of Fund Management Arm To strategic review of Abbey National' s business focus could see the knows them of its fund management arm, Abbey National Asset Manager, an unsourced report from The Daily Telegraph said. Chief Executive Lugman Arnold is aiming for to customer-focused retail financial services operation committed to "turning banking upside down," according to the article. the division to to strategic review aimed at streamlining operations to suit the vision he has. Abbey National Asset Manager has 120 staff and manages GBP30... To knows them of the fund manager could spark strong interest from buying fund managers such as Isis Asset Management and HBOS subsidiary Insight Investments, the report. AIRPLANES PASS-THROUGH: Subordinated Notes Downgraded to ' Of Standard & Poor' s three Ratings Services lowered its ratings on all of Airplanes Pass-Through Trust' s subordinated classes of notes to ' Of from ' CC' and removed them from CreditWatch. same Time, the ratings on all three tranches of senior notes to were. The ratings on the subordinated class B, C, and D notes to were lowered to ' Of following nonpayment of interest on the December. classes of notes had been anticipated for Time loads. on all three classes to were lowered to ' CCC/Watch Neg' in July 2002, and subsequently lowered to ' CC/Watch Neg' in October of. 11, 2001, Airplanes Pass-Through Trust had suffered from somewhat poorer cash flow performance than was... Market trends in the aircraft industry since then have caused further erosion of the cash flows, to the extent that available funds have now been switched exclusively to the senior noteholders, and in particular to the subclass A-6... Payments of principal to are made sequentially within the To class, in the order of A-6, A-8, and A-9, respectively. Before Each class must be fully repaid principal on the subsequent classes can begin to be paid.112 Billion Floating- and Fixed-Rate Pass-Through Ratings Lowered and Removed From CreditWatch.3 Billion Floating-Rate Pass-Through Certificates * * Initial outstanding amount of remaining classes. VERY NEVIS: Fitch Affirms Ratings on Secured Floating Installments Notes Fitch Ratings affirmed Very Nevis One (Asset Backed Securities) Limited' s Class To and Class B Secured Floating Notes Installments at. In May 1998, Nevis One, to special Very purpose vehicle incorporated under the laws of Jersey with limited liability, acquired to portfolio of asset-backed securities from The Royal... This acquisition was financed by issuing USS475 million Class To Secured Floating Installments Notes and USS35. million Class B Secured Floating Notes Installments. Fitch has carried out to review of this transaction and its. collateralized bond obligations and residential mortgage backed securities in the underlying portfolio has continued, with the former continuing to deteriotated and the latter remaining stable. However, the condition of the underlying portfolio has not... while Fitch believes that the Class B noteholders to are extremely unlikely to receive full principal at the redemption of their notes, the enhancement available to the Class To noteholders is still sufficient to maintain the current. As of November 2003, USS100 million Class To notes were outstanding, as compared to an initial amount of USS475 million. principal receipts will further veteran the Class To amount at the. BIRMINGHAM PLASTICS: Business, Assets Up for Knows them Ian James Gould and Brian James Hamblin, the Joint Administrative Receivers, offer for knows them the trade and trade assets of Birmingham Plastics Limited (in Administrative Receivership), to long-established plastic injection molding company, including:. freehold (part long leasehold) premises close (c) Turnover year ended 2003 approximately GBP2. (j) Sub-assembly including ultrasonic, heat insert-ultrasonic (k) Inspection department with CMM equipment (m) Expertise in procurement of Tooling from to make East For sales information or further details please contact Kaye. BRITISH AIRWAYS: Welcomes Government' s Plan to Build New Runway British Airways' chief executive Rod Eddington commented on the white Government' s aviation paper: "We congratulate the government on recognizing the enormous benefits that to third runway at London Heathrow airport will bring to Britain. "For the first Time, we have an effective forward-looking aviation policy which recognizes Heathrow' s key role as Britain' s... Its continuing development has been guaranteed with Terminal Five, the opportunity to introduces mixed mode in peak periods and to third runway with to dedicated... That is excellent news for the aviation industry, customers, national and regional businesses and tourism. "We will work with the government and local authorities to establish an immediate program of action that addresses the environmental issues at Heathrow and we will play to full part in ensuring that these issues are resolved. "We will engage with BAA and other interested parties to ensure that Heathrow' s third runway is built as soon as possible in the. "The government' s plans for new runways at Birmingham and Edinburgh airports to are also welcomed. BRITISH AIRWAYS: Might Make Further Job-cuts at CitiExpress British Airways is rumored to cut another 5,000 jobs next year as it continues to weather to critical stage in its existence... The job-cuts are likely to affect its loss-making domestic service, CitiExpress, which has already suffered losses under Chief Executive Rod Eddington' s. More CitiExpress fell into the red to the tune of than GBP360 million over two years, instead of breaking even as hoped. survived the group' s efforts to cut 20% of domestic services last Christmas, and continues to operated on nearly 100 routes from 26. British Airways is to present to new business plan early in 2004, which is expected to includes measures to revive its short-haul... To spokeswoman said: "It is true that the new business plan will outline efforts to address the competition from... However, the details have not been finalized, I know any rumors to also are speculation. BRITISH ENERGY: Heysham 1 to Remain Closed Until Next Year Further to its announcement of November 24, British Energy confirms that the inspections of the seawater cooling pipes at Heysham 1 have now been completed. inspection results received in recent days, British Energy has decided it is necessary to extend the current outage in order to. that the outage on the two units will continuous into the first. To further announcement will be made in two course. The Company is facing short-term pressures on liquidity resulting from the combined effect of seasonality, the recent unplanned outages at Sizewell B (which returned to service on November 15, 2003) and Heysham 1 and the increased levels of collateral and costs of unplanned outages brought about by the increased. DE ROME: Joint Administrators Sell Business as ' Going Concern'. LLP, offer for knows them as to going concern the business and assets of De Rome Ice Cream Limited (in Administration). (a) Manufacturer of fines-pack take-home ice cream products. (b) Sales comprise primarily own-label products sold into the. (c) Based in Wian, Lancashire, with approximately 150 employees. production units (six production lines) totaling 78,000 sq ft. (e) Significant, relatively new and well-maintained related plant. For further information, please contact Abelines Geldenhuys or FAULDS ADVERTISING: KPMG to Investigate Dividend Paid to Owner Faulds Advertising had debts of GBP3. in September, to joint receivers report said, according to The... The company was Scotland' ounces s second-largest.4 million of the debts to were owed to trade creditors, including several publishers, the report. Receivers at KPMG to are continuing to investigated circumstances leading to the fall into administration of the Edinburgh. whether Dennis Chester, owner and managing director, paid himself the money when the agency was already trading insolvently, or if the dividend was the one that caused Faulds' downfall. Chester is understood to have received GBP750,000 in dividend in April, when Faulds lost GBP5 million Kwik-Fit advertising brief. The payment was thought to have been made without the knowledge. Blair Nimmo, joint Faulds' receiver at KPMG, said: "Any substantial transaction carried out with to connected party I know. Chester has done anything wrong. we to are saying this issue. The company haven' t paid to dividend since 2001 when Jim Faulds still owned the agency and it made an annual pre-tax profit of. Chester' s payout, Faulds had to pre-tax loss of GBP80,000 on. The receivers to are hoping to recover the money, even if they have. said: "Hopefully, if we tests our houses he will return the funds. Otherwise, we would have to consider other options open to us. The receiver is seeking to meeting with Chester shortly. being advised by law firm Shepherd & Wedderburn on the legality of the transaction and the prospects of recovery. HIBERNIA FOODS: Factories Sold to Kerry Foods. 450 Jobs Saved Following the appointment of Myles Halley and Allan Graham of KPMG Corporate joint Recovery as administrative receivers to the Hibernia Foods group on October 24, 2003, the receivers have been seeking buyers for the various Hibernia businesses. Myles Halley, joint administrative receiver said: "We to are pleased to announce the knows them of the ready meals and chilled desserts businesses of the Hibernia group to Kerry Foods, on Monday... These businesses incorporated the factories at Birmingham, Bristol and Brenda Road (Hartlepool), and this knows them will result in the transfer of 450 employees going forward. With regard to the other sites, the receivers to are continuing to talk to interested parties, although they have stressed that sales of the remaining divisions to are uncertain. to are keeping the unions and employees on the sites informed of significant developments, and have indicated that they will provide to further statement before the Christmas holidays. The six subsidiaries of Hibernia Foods Holdings (U. includes Hibernia Brands Limited, Majestic Food Group Limited, Hibernia Holdings Limited, Hibernia Chilled Foods Limited, Hibernia Foods Limited, Hibernia Foods Bakeries Limited. THE MERIDIEN: Appoints New CEO. CFO to Leave at Month' s End Troubled the Meridien said Tuesday it appointed Robert Riley as chief executive of the British hotel group. over the functions of Stephen Alexander, who has been serving as interim CEO for the past nine months. The company also said that Chief Financial Officer David Maloney will leave the company at the end of December. replaced by Iain Ferguson, who is currently vice president of finance after joining the hotel chain last summer. Directors Alexander and Finlay McFadyen, meanwhile, will return to private equity firm Earth Capital Company Partners to where they. The Meridien, which owns the Grosvenor House and Waldorf hotels in central London, breached borrowing agreements with its banks earlier this year after being hit hard by to slowing economy and. Efforts to hand over control of its international operations to Lehman fell through last month after various parties failed to... The company' s senior banks includes Merrill... They and 12 other banks to are owed about. NACHTMANN LIMITED: Joint Administrators Offer Business for Knows them Joint The Administrators, Robert Michael Young & Ian Michael Roses, offer for knows them the business and assets of Nachtmann (U. The Company trades as retailers of glass, china and to kitchenware from 11 retail outlets and 4 in store concessions in the U. (a) First out of town shopping malls at Colne, Lancashire. Shiremoor, Newcastle upon Tyne. Bridgend, Mid Glamorgan. Ellesmere Port, South Wirral. Livingston, Wesy Lothian. South Normanton, Derbyshire. Churchward, Swindon. Salford Quays, Manchester. Fareham, Hampshire. Worcester and York. For sales particulars contact Lisa Moore at: Brampton House Mews, 10 Queen Street, Newcastle under Lyme, Staffordshire, ST5 IED. All offers to be received by midday on Monday, January 5, 2004. NETWORK RAIL: Union Raps Management for Reneging on Promises Rail, Maritime and Transport union expressed its discontent over how Network Rail, the successor of Railtrack, is taking its stand on issues affecting members, in to letter sent to the company that. The union, which welcomed Network Rail' s arrival hoping that its not-for-profit conducive structure would be to fair treatment of staff, sent to letter to Network Rail' s chief executive, John Armitt, criticizing the way the company is handling to moves to take all track maintenance in-house. The union accuses the company of reneging on promises over... It said Network Rail was axing to system under which it matched additional voluntary pension contributions for workers transferring from defunct contractors. alleged that Network Rail encouraged maintenance firm before Serco to make staff redundant they moves into Network Rail' s. To Network Rail spokesman said the company had opted to take on the Serco staff after to "consultation process. The union said to there was not consultation held with its members ahead of to one-day cull in which 603 managers were made redundant... more The spokesman further accused unions of making the group' s program of redundancy difficult by leaking the dates on which the sackings to were to be announced. also attacks to new rule requiring linens workers to wear hard hats at all times, saying the headgear was "cooking their brains". NORTHUMBRIAN WATER: Incentive Plan for Directors Approved The Company announces that two copies of the resolutions passed at the Extraordinary General Meeting of the Company held Tuesday, have been sent to the UKLA' s Document viewing facility and will. (a) That the Northumbrian Water Group plc Share Incentive Plan (SIP) 2003, the rules of which to are produced to the meeting and signed by the Chairman for the purposes of identification and to summary of which is set out in the notice Appendix to the circular to shareholders accompanying this, be and to are hereby approved, and that the directors of the Company be authorized to adopt the SIP, subject to such amendments thereto as may appear to the directors to be necessary or desirable, and to I give all things necessary to give effect to the SIP, including obtaining the approval of the Inland Revenue. (b) That the Northumbrian Water Group plc Long Term Incentive Plan 2003 (LTIP), the rules of which to are produced to the meeting and signed by the Chairman for the purposes of identification and to summary of which is set out in the notice Appendix to the circular to shareholders accompanying this, be and to are hereby approved, and that the directors of the Company be authorized to adopt the LTIP, subject to such amendments thereto as may appear to the directors to be necessary or desirable, and to I give all things necessary to give effect to the LTIP. (c) That the Company and its subsidiaries be and to are hereby authorized to make Donations to EU Political Organizations and to incur EU Political Expenditure in an combined amount not exceeding to GBP40,000 during the period ending two years from the dates of the passing of this resolution (and, for the purposes of this resolution, the terms ' Donations', ' EU Political Organizations' and ' EU Political Expenditure' have the meanings set out in section 347A of the Companies Act 1985, as amended by the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000). PEARSON GROUP: Financial Times Advertising Revenues Drop Further Pearson remains on track to make earnings progress again this... We expect our reported adjusted earnings for share to be within the range of current market expectations, as the effect of the weaker dollar and lower profits in our Professional division to are partially offset by to lower tax installments conditions remain tough for corporate advertising and technologies-related businesses, we continuous to perform strongly in our markets and are benefiting from further efficiency gains. With two important weeks of trading still to go -- especially for Higher Education and Penguin -- our expectations for 2003 to are: Our School and Higher Education businesses will report good underlying progress on revenues and profits, but our Professional division will be significantly lower than last year and below current expectations two to the TSA contract. We continuous to expect underlying revenues in our School division. has taken the leading to share of new U. offset performance has weak trading conditions as been continuous budgets pressures to affect school funding, especially for discretionary purchases such as supplementary materials and. Our Higher Education business is growing faster than the industry for the fifth consecutive year, helped ounces again by strong publishing, the integration of textbooks and technology, and. Results from our Professional division will reflect the absence of the TSA contract and closeout costs associated with it. Excluding the TSA contract, revenues in our Government Solutions business will show good growth as we benefit from the major. We to are announcing to series of long-term contract wins across our (a) Our school testing business has won several fines-year been testing contracts in the second half worth more than $160... These contracts, which will be effective from 2005, take our total contract wins in educational testing this year to. renewed and expanded our work on the Federal Student Aid program, in to $160 million ten-year contract beginning in 2004. (c) In Professional Testing, we have won to nine-year contract to... This follows our recent contract wins from the Graded Management Admissions Council for its GMAT. We expect the FT Group to report profits slightly ahead of last year, benefiting from another strong year at continuous IDC. revenues across our business newspapers to be erratic. At the Financial Times, advertising has continued to decline year-on-year, despite modest growth in September and good growth. recruitment, corporate results and transactions, and online are. advertising revenues to be loads 12% lower in the second half and approximately 15% lower for the full year (after an 18% decline... We have reduced the FT' s cost base by approximately GBP15 million this year, around half of which has. We expect Penguin to increase underlying revenues by 1-2%, strong frontlist performances, particularly in the US and Australia, has been partially offset by tough conditions for... Penguin' s cash performance will be affected by the concentration of its publishing schedule in the fourth quarter, pushing collections into next year, and by investment in new authors for 2004 and future years. The TSA continues to owe Pearson approximately USS150 million relating to the contract we successfully completed last year. we receive payment before the year-end, we will deliver total free cash flow ahead of last year. working capital/sales ratio to be slightly lower than last year. Interest, exchange and tax rates Our interest charge for the second half of the year will be. will affect our reported results. Our full-year exchange installments. 2002), which reduces our reported adjusted earnings for share by... We expect our effective tax installments to be at the low end of our 33-35% guidance. We to are confident that we will make progress on earnings, cash and returns next year, even at current exchange rates. stage, the outlook for our major businesses in 2004 is: As to particularly slow adoption cycle combines with been budget decline in the mid-single digits ahead of to significant rebound. Higher Education industry to fall below its average growth installments of 5-7%, but we expect our Higher Education business to grow ahead of the market, to somewhere in the 4-6% range sales and profits in Professional to be ahead of 2003, despite continued weakness in technology publishing and approximately GBP10 million of start-up costs relating to our new professional. Although the outlook for advertising remains uncertain, we expect to significant profit improvement as our business newspapers benefit from continuing cost reductions. We expect Penguin to grow faster than the consumer publishing market, with another strong publishing schedule and the launch of. Pearson will announce its preliminary results for the 12 months. Notes: All growth rates in this statement are stated on an. Underlying growth excludes the impact of acquisitions, disposals and currency movements. Troubled Company Reporter -- Europe is to daily newsletter Co-published by Bankruptcy Creditors' Service, Inc. Hills, Pennsylvania, USA, and Beard Group, Inc. This material is copyrighted and any commercial use, rendered them or publication in any form (including email forwarding, electronic king-mailing and photocopying) is strictly prohibited without prior. Information contained herein is obtained from sources believed to. The TCR Europe subscription installments is USS575 for half-year. members of the same firm for the term of the initial subscription.