/raid1/www/Hosts/bankrupt/TCREUR

/raid1/www/Hosts/bankrupt/TCREUR_Public/010309.mbx T R O U B L E D C O M P A N Y R E P O R T E R E U R O P E Friday, March 09, 2001, Vol. 2, No. 48 Headlines A U S T R I A FORSTINGER: Applies for Insolvency Procedure B E L G I U M LERNOUT & HAUSPIE: Dragon Systems Asks Judge to Name Trustee SABENA SA: Virgin Protests Sabena Promotional Campaign B U L G A R I A BALKAN AIRLINES: Ze'evi Holdings Proposes Recovery Plan C Z E C H R E P U B L I C TCHECOMALT: Bank Claims Court is Biased ZETOR A.S.: Four Firms Express Interest in Zetor G E R M A N Y BANKGESELLSCHAFT BERLIN: Fails to Complete 2000 Accounts EM.TV: Faces 13 Million Euro Investor Claim INFOR BUSINESS: Posts Dm39 Million Loss in 2000 N E T H E R L A N D S INFORMATION INNOVATION: Court Declares Internet Firm Insolvent VERSATEL TELECOM: Plans Job Cuts in Restructuring S W I T Z E R L A N D SAIRGROUP: Suter Resigns as SAirLines Head ZURICH FINANCIAL: To Cut 610 Jobs in Restructuring U N I T E D K I N G D O M BRUNNER MOND: Moody's Lowers Ratings to Caa3 COATS VIYELLA: Loss Slumps to 30 Million Sterling GOOCH & JONES: Notice Of Creditors Meeting INTERX PLC: Slumps on Widened Losses WEBSTER COMMUNICATIONS: Notice Of Creditors Meeting ============= A U S T R I A ============= FORSTINGER: Applies for Insolvency Procedure -------------------------------------------- Automotive accessories retail chain Forstinger will apply for insolvency procedures, owing to debts of Sch750 million, bank debts of around Sch660 million and total liabilities of Sch1 billion, according to Der Standard's March 1 edition. Forstinger blames mild winter on depressing sales of winter accessories and large stocks that led to payment problems. Der Standard further reported that Forstinger's main creditor is Bank Austria, while its buyers are Derendinger of Switzerland and AutoTeileUnger of Germany. ============= B E L G I U M ============= LERNOUT & HAUSPIE: Dragon Systems Asks Judge to Name Trustee ------------------------------------------------------------ Attorneys for James and Janet Baker, who sold Dragon Systems Inc. to Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products NV, on Wednesday tried to convince a judge to appoint a trustee in the L&H bankruptcy case. Dow Jones reported that if U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Judith Wizmur does appoint a trustee, Lernout's $60 million debtor-in- possession financing would be imperiled. As a term of Lernout & Hauspie's DIP financing, lender Cerberus Capital Management LP retained the right to foreclose on the $60 million credit arrangement if the judge names a bankruptcy trustee. L&H filed for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. and Belgium late last year amid an accounting scandal that has prompted a management shakeup, significant layoffs and government investigations. SABENA SA: Virgin Protests Sabena Promotional Campaign ------------------------------------------------------- Discount airline Virgin Express has complained to the European Commission about a new promotional campaign by Sabena Airlines, according to Reuters on Wednesday. Virgin declined to elaborate, but local daily De Financieel Economische Tijd said the airline complained that the campaign's lower fares came after Sabena got 250 million euros in new funding. Sabena spokesman Wilfried Remans said that the airline planned the campaign before February 23 when it got a cash injection from the Belgian state and Swiss airline holding SAirGroup, its two main shareholders. Virgin has a code-sharing agreement with Sabena in which it flies the Belgian airline's routes to Barcelona, London and Rome. =============== B U L G A R I A =============== BALKAN AIRLINES: Ze'evi Holdings Proposes Recovery Plan ------------------------------------------------------- Ze'evi Holdings, which holds a majority stake in Balkan Airlines, has submitted to the Sofia City Court a recovery plan for the airline, World News Connection said in its March 4 report. The Israeli company proposes to freeze all of Balkan Airlines' debts until it reaches operating profitability. Ze'evi Holdings further wants the government to inject 15 million dollars and to restore the aviation fees for Balkan to their levels at the time the privatization deal was struck. If the government and the court approve the plan, Ze'evi Holdings will withdraw its 230-million dollar claim against the Bulgarian Government for breach of its contractual obligations. =========================== C Z E C H R E P U B L I C ============================ TCHECOMALT: Bank Claims Court is Biased --------------------------------------- CSOB Bank claims the court decision that declared malt producer Tchecomalt bankrupt was manipulated, Czech A.M. said on Wednesday. The bank has expressed concern that the judge who ruled on another bankruptcy was dismissed by the High Court in Olomouc for bias and serious errors. According to auditor Ernst & Young, at the time bankruptcy was declared the assets of the company were Kc 800 million and liabilities Kc 66 million. ZETOR A.S.: Four Firms Express Interest in Zetor ------------------------------------------------ Czech bailout bank Konsolidacni Banka said that four investors have shown interest in buying state-controlled tractor maker Zetor, according to Reuters on Wednesday. Names of the bidders were not disclosed. Indian tractor producers Mahindra and Mahindra and Turkish company Uzel Makina are reported to be among the bidders. Zetor is one of the first companies to undergo a state-run revitalization program. ============= G E R M A N Y ============= BANKGESELLSCHAFT BERLIN: Fails to Complete 2000 Accounts -------------------------------------------------------- Bankgesellschaft Berlin was unable to complete its 2000 accounts in the face of legal probes by bank watchdog BaKred into possible efforts to cover 1.5 billion marks in losses with an asset sale to a Cayman Islands firm, Reuters reported on March 7. Following the announcement, management board member and real estate chief Klaus Landowsky resigned in a further blow to his conservative CDU party. Shares in Bankgesellschaft also fell more than nine percent to 10.50 euros, their lowest point in about nine years. Analysts, who have dismissed Bankgesellschaft as hopeless, said the company has been plagued by real estate troubles for years and its regional focus has proved to be a handicap. Two credit rating agencies, Fitch and Moody's Investors Service, last month voiced concern over the real estate trouble. EM.TV: Faces 13 Million Euro Investor Claim ------------------------------------------- Disgruntled investors have claimed 13 million euros out-of-court damages from EM.TV & Merchandising, according to the Financial Times on Wednesday. Klaus Rotter, a Munich lawyer representing 450 investors, has given EM.TV until March 31 to come up with the cash, or it will face legal action. EM.TV lawyers are examining the demands. The shareholders say they were not informed in the correct manner of the completed takeover of The Jim Henson Co. and the associated costs of $680 million. Other complaints include the timing of the December profit warning and sales of EM.TV shares by Chief Executive Thomas Haffa and his brother and former chief financial officer Florian Haffa, the Times added. INFOR BUSINESS: Posts Dm39 Million Loss in 2000 ----------------------------------------------- Infor Business Solutions AG said its preliminary loss before taxes widened to DM39 million in 2000 from DM1.3 million from the previous year, according to Handelsblatt on Wednesday. The company, which develops and distributes standard software packages designed for medium-sized manufacturing companies, owes the loss to one-off costs including the closure of two unit companies in South Africa and restructuring costs in Spain. ===================== N E T H E R L A N D S ===================== INFORMATION INNOVATION: Court Declares Internet Firm Insolvent -------------------------------------------------------------- An Amsterdam court has declared Internet company Information Innovation insolvent, according to Het Financieele Dagblad & World Reporter's March 6 edition. The company failed to complete a second financing round after its lender pulled out. Two weeks ago, the company filed for suspension of payment. VERSATEL TELECOM: Plans Job Cuts in Restructuring ------------------------------------------------- Dutch alternative-telecommunications company VersaTel Telecom International NV cut 300 jobs this year as part of a restructuring, according to a Dow Jones report on Wednesday. VersaTel, with a widened full-year loss of 421.3 million euros ($393.8 million) in 2000, compared with a loss of 197.9 million euros in 1999, said it would reorganize and cut jobs this year and reduce selling, general and administrative expenses of up to 180 million euros in 2001. The company will further take a charge of 7.5 million euros in the first quarter to carry out the reorganization. ===================== S W I T Z E R L A N D ===================== SAIRGROUP: Suter Resigns as SAirLines Head ------------------------------------------ Moritz Suter has resigned with immediate effect as head of SAirGroup's SAirLines division and all its airline holdings, according to a company release on Wednesday. Suter explained that he is unable to tackle the task with limited chances of success under the current SAirLines management structure. Eric Honegger, Chairman of the Board of the SAirGroup, will soon propose to the SAirGroup Board a successor to Suter as head of SAirLines. In December, the TCR-EUR reported that SAirGroup AG could face a full-year net loss of 300 million sfr this year due to deficits posted by its ailing units Swissair and Sabena. ZURICH FINANCIAL: To Cut 610 Jobs in Restructuring -------------------------------------------------- Zurich Financial Services AG will cut 610 jobs in its Zurich headquarters within the next two years, following a restructuring plan that created eight regional operations, Dow Jones said on March 7. The group said that 230 jobs will be eliminated and 380 will be transferred to other units inside and outside Switzerland, which would result in yearly cost savings of around 200 million Swiss francs ($121.4 million or 129.8 million euros). Last month, the group issued a profit warning that its full 2000 profits would be hurt by a reinsurance-related extraordinary charge of $400 million. Zurich Financial also reported in September an unexpected 24 percent decline in first-half net income after a substantial fall in realized capital gains from financial investments. =========================== U N I T E D K I N G D O M =========================== BRUNNER MOND: Moody's Lowers Ratings to Caa3 --------------------------------------------- Moody's Investors Service on March 6 lowered the rating on the senior subordinated bonds of Brunner Mond Group Plc, the UK's largest supplier of soda ash and refined sodium bicarbonate, from Caa2 to Caa3. The senior implied rating has been lowered to Caa1 and the senior unsecured issuer rating to Caa2. The rating downgrades reflect concerns about the ability of the group to service its debt as a result of continued weak operating cashflow generation, high ongoing CAPEX requirements, and a rapidly diminishing liquidity cushion. The current negative outlook reflects Moody's belief that without a restructuring of its bonds, the company will be unable to meet its debt service obligations for this financial year and result in a further downgrade of the bonds to Ca. COATS VIYELLA: Loss Slumps to 30 Million Sterling ------------------------------------------------- Textile group Coats Viyella PLC announced a pretax loss of 29.9 million sterling for 2000, according to AFX Press yesterday. Net losses on termination and disposal of operations and assets were 80.2 million sterling. In September, Coats Viyella warned it would take an exceptional charge of 150 million sterling to cover its restructuring. This involved the closure of the clothes manufacturing division and 1,900 job losses. GOOCH & JONES: Notice Of Creditors Meeting ------------------------------------------- Company Name: Gooch & Jones Ltd Nature Of Business: Sale of Motor Vehicles IA 1986 Section: 48 Creditors Meeting Time: 10.30 am Meeting date: 20/02/01 Meeting address: The Churchill Hotel & Restaurant Dover Waterfront Meeting City Code: Dover CT17 9BP Authorised by: M J Hore & S Bower Joint Administrative Receivers 6/02/01 Last day for proxy: 19/02/01 Proxy address: 186 City Road London EC1V 2NU Firm Name: RSM Robson Rhodes Address: 186 City Road London EC1V 2NU INTERX PLC: Slumps on Widened Losses ------------------------------------ InterX Plc slumped to an all-time low on Wednesday 18.6 percent to 120 pence after the British e-commerce software company posted a widening second quarter pre-tax loss of 19.1 million pounds from 14.2 million pounds in the first quarter. During the past three weeks, the company said it had experienced a period of considerable upheaval, with the resignation of chief executive Philip Crawford on February 27 and significant job cuts. The company said it would again lay off 44 people. The company's total liabilities as of July 2000 were 8.39 million pounds. WEBSTER COMMUNICATIONS: Notice Of Creditors Meeting ---------------------------------------------------- Company Name: Webster Communications Corporation Ltd Company Type: Public Limited Company IA 1986 Section: 98 Creditors Meeting Time: 11.00 am Meeting date: 20/02/01 Meeting address: The Old Halsall Arms 2 Summerwood Lane Meeting City Code: Halsall L39 8RJ Authorised by: R I Webster Director Last day for proxy: 19/02/01 Proxy address: The Old Halsall Arms 2 Summerwood Lane Halsall L39 8RJ Firm Name: The Thompson Partnership Address: The Old Halsall Arms 2 Summerwood Lane Halsall L39 8RJ S U B S C R I P T I O N I N F O R M A T I O N Troubled Company Reporter -- Europe is a daily newsletter co- published by Bankruptcy Creditors' Service, Inc., Trenton, NJ USA, and Beard Group, Inc., Washington, DC USA. Lexy Mueller, Salve M. Mordeno and Cristina Pernites, Editors. Copyright 2001. All rights reserved. ISSN 1529-2754. This material is copyrighted and any commercial use, resale or publication in any form (including e-mail forwarding, electronic re-mailing and photocopying) is strictly prohibited without prior written permission of the publishers. Information contained herein is obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but is not guaranteed. The TCR Europe subscription rate is $575 per half-year, delivered via e-mail. Additional e-mail subscriptions for members of the same firm for the term of the initial subscription or balance thereof are $25 each. For subscription information, contact Christopher Beard at 301/951-6400. * * * End of Transmission * * *