- MELDUNGEN AM MORGEN - JÜKÜ, 24.08.2001, 09:14
- Re: MELDUNGEN AM MORGEN - Euklid, 23.08.2001, 11:09
- noch eine MELDUNG AM MORGEN - Hirscherl, 23.08.2001, 11:31
noch eine MELDUNG AM MORGEN
Computer Maker Gateway Cut to Junk
[Junk = Schrott, Abfall, Mist, Trödel, Schund]
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Gateway Inc., the No. 4 personal computer maker in the United States, was cut to junk status on Wednesday by Standard & Poor's Corp., in the latest sign of problems in a hotly competitive industry amid a slowing U.S. economy.
S&P cut San Diego-based Gateway's corporate credit and bank loan rating two notches each to ``BB,'' its second-highest junk grade, from ``BBB-minus.'' Its rating outlook is negative.
``The downgrade reflects extremely competitive industry conditions, a
declining revenue base, and the company's expectation that it will not
return to material profitability until fiscal 2002,'' the rating agency said.
[...]
Downgrades to junk ordinarily raise corporate borrowing costs.
Its shares closed Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange at $9.79, down 21 cents. They have fallen 84 percent in the last year. S&P issued its release after U.S. markets closed.
Gateway has underperformed the American Stock Exchange hardware index by about 25 percent this year. The shares had been tracking along with its peers in that index until it reported earnings in mid-July, when the stock fell significantly.
Gateway said that plan didn't work and on July 19, reported a second-quarter loss of about $9 million, or 2 cents per share, excluding special charges and a writedown of an investment. That was down sharply from a profit of $118 million, or 36 cents a share in the year-ago quarter. Sales fell to $1.50 billion from $2.21 billion in the year-ago quarter and said it saw no imminent
rebound for the U.S. consumer PC market.
Earlier this month, Gateway said it plans to shut operations in Britain and Ireland, eliminating more than 1,000 jobs.
Gateway has a $300 million unsecured bank credit line, including a revolving line of credit and a subfacility for letters of credit, but had not drawn on the revolving line as of June 30, according to a securities filing.
---------------------
Junk, ein Wort mit Zukunft.
Grüße,
Tom
<center>
<HR>
</center>

gesamter Thread: