WorldCom Requests Nasdaq Hearing
CLINTON, Miss. (DOW JONES)--WorldCom Inc. (WCOME), which is working with various banks to restructure its finances in an effort to stave off filing for bankruptcy, requested a hearing before a Nasdaq listing qualifications panel after failing to comply with certain filing and fee requirements.
"WorldCom intends to make its case heard, and we believe that Nasdaq will see that our company is doing everything in its power to uncover the circumstances of the intended restatement and to make all the appropriate regulatory filings as soon as possible," said WorldCom President and Chief Executive John W. Sidgmore in a statement Tuesday.
WorldCom's common and preferred shares will continue to be listed on the Nasdaq National Market pending the issuance of a written determination by the panel after the hearing. There is no assurance the panel will grant WorldCom's request for the continued listing.
The company has seen a sharp selloff of its shares since announcing the restatement. After falling 92.8% to a record low Monday, WorldCom's shares closed Tuesday at 10 cents, up 4 cents, or 66.7%, on Nasdaq volume of 816 million shares. Average daily volume is 150.5 million shares.
Earlier Tuesday, Sidgmore said the company has more than $2 billion in cash and that a bankruptcy filing is not imminent. In his first live, public comments since the company announced it would have to restate 2001 and first-quarter 2002 results due to a $3.8 billion misallocation of routine expenses as capital expenditures, Sidgmore said the company is working with lenders to restructure the company's finances.
WorldCom, the largest carrier of Internet traffic in the world and the nation's second-largest long-distance service provider, serves more than 20 million customers and reported more than $30 billion in 2001 revenue.
Since WorldCom said it will restate certain financial results, and report losses instead of profits, the company is in default on credit lines from banks totaling $4.25 billion, although lenders haven't demanded repayment, the company said.
WorldCom also said no major customer has canceled its service to date and the company will continue with plans to shut down or sell non-core assets and communications units in South America and Japan.
Company Web Site: www.worldcom.com
-Consella A. Lee; Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5400
(This story was originally published by Dow Jones Newswires)
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