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Monday, July 8, 2002 WorldCom Bondholders Write Down Investments The list of banks and insurance companies that are taking big hits on WorldCom debt is growing each day. Most of them are big, multinational firms such as Westpac Banking Corp., Sun Life of Canada and American Express. But two local banks last week announced WorldCom-related losses in their investment portfolios. Cardinal Financial Corp. of Fairfax said it wrote down a $2 million WorldCom bond in its $170 million "available for sale" portfolio. Cardinal said it expects to report a profit in the second quarter, but declined to say how the write-down would affect earnings. Provident Bankshares Corp. of Baltimore, which has branches in the Washington area, said it plans to write down a $10 million investment in WorldCom bonds, and lowered its second-quarter earnings estimate as a result. The bonds, bought in November 2001, mature in April 2004. Provident said that after "taking all other factors and the company`s investment activities during the quarter into consideration," its earnings will be 3 cents to 5 cents below the analysts` consensus estimate of 44 cents to 45 cents a share. After Long Absence, MCI`s Roberts Back in Spotlight Among the scheduled witnesses scheduled to appear today at the House Financial Services Committee hearing on accounting problems at WorldCom Inc. is Bert C. Roberts Jr., chairman of the company and the former chief executive of MCI Communications, the Washington company WorldCom bought in 1998. Roberts has been all but silent since the $37 billion, all-stock merger of WorldCom and MCI four years ago. Though he assumed the chairman`s post after the merger, he took the backstage to the gung-ho dealer Bernard J. Ebbers, who was WorldCom`s chief executive until he was fired in April. John W. Sidgmore, the other Washington area tech executive who became entangled in Mississippi-based WorldCom, when his Ashburn-based UUNet was bought by the company, also is scheduled to appear. Now, Sidgmore is chief executive of WorldCom. Sidgmore was subpoenaed. Roberts was not, but agreed to appear anyway. Others under subpoena scheduled to appear today are Scott Sullivan, WorldCom`s former chief financial officer, and Ebbers. © 2002 The Washington Post Company (Voluntary Disclosure: ST Rating- Strong Buy) |
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| aus der Diskussion: | Presse: WorldCom-CEO wollte Budget von Prüfungsausschuss kürzen |
| Autor (Datum des Eintrages): | xoma (08.07.02 11:17:27) |
| Beitrag: | 2 von 3 (ID:6823398) |
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