Cable shares rise; ntl denies crisis talks

ntl has flatly denied media reports that it was engaged in crisis talks with backer France Telecom. This news, combined with a higher Q2 2001 EBITDA figure sent the cable giant's share price soaring 38% in trade on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday.

Alison Kirkwood told reporters that "ntl is not in crisis talks with France Telecom", responding to an article in Thursday's Independent which suggested that Britain's biggest cable operator was in talks with France Telecom about restructing the company.

Telewest also enjoyed a modest rise of 5.58% to 66.25p during Thursday's trade in London. Smaller than ntl, the company is not thought by analysts to be in as poor a financial position as ntl following efforts to restructure its debt several months ago.

However today's rises should not be mistaken for a sign of returning confidence in Britain's cable industry. Concerns persist; ntl's share price is still dwindling at $7.30 tonight - far off the $130+ figures seen at the height of the telecommunications boom. US analysts continue to repeat that UK cable operators are overvalued when compared to AT&T and Comcast; and even to others in Britain's telecoms marketplace. Today was a generally strong day in both New York and London, with the DJIA, NASDAQ and FTSE-100 all closing up on the day. By no means would anyone be able to claim that the future is looking rosier for ntl and Telewest; yet.