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            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

                 Tuesday, October 8, 2002, Vol. 3, No. 199


                              Headlines


* F R A N C E *

ALCATEL: Sells Stake in Golden Line to AKF Sistema for US$100,000
ALCATEL: Comments on Standard & Poor's Downgrade
ALCATEL: Launches News Services for Its Alcatel OmniPCX Office
NORTEL NETWORKS: Revamps Organization to Streamline Structure
FRANCE TELECOM: Credit Lyonnais CEO Open to Tender Help
VIVENDI UNIVERSAL: Maintains Price for Publishing Assets

* G E R M A N Y *

COMMERZBANK AG: Denies Rumors of Large Trading Losses
COMMERZBANK AG: Mulls on Axing Hundreds of Corporate Banking Jobs
DEUTSCHE TELEKOM: Zumwinkel Is Leading Candidate for CEO
KIRCHGRUPPE: Deutsche Bank to Auction Stake in Axel Springer
PEGUFORM GMBH: Workers Sees Bankruptcy as Successful Effort

* P O L A N D *

ELEKTRIM SA: Files Motion Withdrawing Declaration Of Bankruptcy
ELEKTRIM SA: Reaches Agreement With Bondholders Committee  

* S W I T Z E R L A N D *

CREDIT SUISSE: Comments on the Recent Development of Share Price

* U N I T E D   K I N G D O M *

ABERDEEN ASSET: Abandons GBP18-Million Plan to Build New Office
ABERDEEN ASSET: Announces Trading Statement
ABERDEEN ASSET: Notification of Major Interests in Shares
COOKSON GROUP: Notification of Major Interests in Shares
EQUITABLE LIFE: Counts on Substantial Assets to Avoid Bankruptcy
FUTURE NETWORK: Appoints UBS Warburg as Sole Broker
FUTURE NETWORK: Notification of Directors' Interests in Shares
INVENSYS PLC: Sells Drive Systems for US$145 Million
KINGFISHER PLC: Announces Changes in Management Board
KINGFISHER PLC: Announces Director's Shareholding
P&O PRINCESS: Receives Federal Trade Commission Clearance
TADPOLE TECHNOLOGY: Announces Proposed Sale of Hardware Division
TELEWEST COMMUNICATIONS: S& P Downgrades Ratings to "SD"
TXU EUROPE: Financial Woes Affect Profits of American Parent
TXU EUROPE: Fitch Comments on TXU Europe Ltd. Downgrade
WORLDCOM: Examiner Gains Court Nod to Tap Kilpatrick as Counsel


===========
F R A N C E
===========


ALCATEL: Sells Stake in Golden Line to AKF Sistema for US$100,000
-----------------------------------------------------------------
French telecoms parts manufacturer Alcatel unloaded its 50% stake
in Moscow-based Golden Line to AKF Sistema for US$100,000 in
cash, plus the assumption of US$3.2 million in debt, according to
Les Echos.

Sistema holds the remaining stake in the Russian telecoms
operator through OAO Moscow City Telephone, which controls the
company's cash flow.  Since year 1993 the company specializes in
provision of leased digital communication channels in Moscow.

Russian Federation, GIST Publications earlier believed that
Alcatel would have a difficult time finding a buyer for Golden
Line as Moscow City Telephone Network is not interested in having
complete control over Golden Line.  

Alcatel had recently planned to cut its workforce by 10,000 as
its target return to profitability by 2003 is clouded by a steep
fall in second-half sales. The move follows the 10,000 job cuts
announced in June.

  
ALCATEL: Comments on Standard & Poor's Downgrade
------------------------------------------------
Alcatel acknowledges the downgrade of Standard & Poor's from BB+
to B+.

The company considers that, although it reflects the eterioration
of the telecom market, it underestimates Alcatel's financial
strength and its roadmap to overcome the crisis.

Alcatel also announces its decision to repurchase some of its
outstanding bonds.

Alcatel designs, develops and builds innovative and competitive
communications networks, enabling carriers, service providers and
enterprises to deliver any type of content, such as voice, data
and multimedia, to any type of consumer, anywhere in the world.
Relying on its leading and comprehensive products and solutions
portfolio, stretching from end-to-end optical infrastructures,
fixed and mobile networks to broadband access, Alcatel's
customers can focus on optimizing their service offerings and
revenue streams. With sales of EURO 25 billion in 2001, Alcatel
operates in more than 130 countries.

Recent news on Alcatel:

The Troubled Company Reporter in its October 3, 2002 issue
reported that Alcatel's unit, Alcatel Canada recently announced
employee reductions of over 400 positions or about 12% of the
overall workforce. This was to address the continuing economic
slowdown in the  
telecommunications networking industry. Alcatel Canada also  
announced an acceleration of its cost management initiatives in  
Canada. The initiatives are designed to gain efficiencies in  
Alcatel's overall Canadian operating budget.
  
It was also reported that the employees affected by the reduction
will receive separation packages and outplacement services.

Previously, in September it was also reported that Alcatel had
planned to cut its workforce by 10,000 as its target return to
profitability by 2003 is clouded by a steep fall in second-half
sales.  The move follows  
the 10,000 job cuts announced in June.  
  
The redundancies will reduce the company's headcount to around  
60,000 employees at the end of next year, Telegraph says. Around  
EUR500 million (GBP315 million) was provisioned for the slash.  
  
In July, S&P cut Alcatel's long-term corporate credit and senior  
unsecured debt ratings to 'BB+/B', after the company released its  
profit warning. S&P said the rating shows the worsening market  
conditions of the telecom equipment industry and the continuing  
lack of trading visibility.  

CONTACT:  Alcatel  
          54, rue La Bo,tie  
          75008 Paris, France  
          Phone: +33-1-40-76-10-10  
          Fax: +33-1-40-76-14-00


ALCATEL: Launches News Services for Its Alcatel OmniPCX Office
--------------------------------------------------------------
Alcatel announced new functionalities for the Alcatel OmniPCX
Office. This innovative solution is designed to offer small and
medium enterprises (SMEs) a single system for traditional and IP
telephony, high speed secure and controlled Internet access,
electronic messaging and local area networks (LANs). Tailored
specifically for SMEs, this solution provides a comprehensive
communications infrastructure on a single, easily managed
architecture.

Alcatel designed the features of the Alcatel OmniPCX Office after
examining the actual communication needs of small and mid-sized
companies. Like most large enterprises, SMEs require a
comprehensive voice communication system, Internet and electronic
mail service and a computing platform to operate applications and
maintain data to improve customer relationships, link to internal
and remote sites and communicate with users and customers - all
with complete security.

Because most of SMEs lack the technical resources and expertise
to install and manage complex communications systems with a full
range of services, the pre-installed functionalities of the
Alcatel OmniPCX Office reduce implementation time as well as the
integration cost of heterogeneous products.  The system is
entirely configurable, offering an SME the flexibility to evolve
communication platforms with ease at any moment, without having
to recast the entire system or its infrastructure.

Alcatel OmniPCX Office's release 2 enhanced system capacity,
management interface, and functionality in telephony and Internet
services deliver the following benefits to small and mid-sized
businesses.

Improved client relationships
Creation of a cascading call transfer function avoids missed
calls. The integration of an ISDN remote access server allows
itinerant users to benefit from the same level of services and
applications than local users. Because client relationship
management is a major requirement, the Alcatel OmniPCX Office
increases the capacities of its integrated CTI server to better
interact with CRM applications.

Increased security for Internet use
Alcatel OmniPCXOffice release 2 includes a new configurable
firewall that improves the security of both network and data by
allowing tobetter control internet data flows. The integrated
proxy server allows to finely control per user the internet usage
limiting impact on productivity. The Alcatel OmniPCX Office is
now able to host and the potential to host an Intranet server to
facilitate the enterprise's internal communications.

Better communication for increased efficiency
Because email is the first internet application used by SMEs, the
integrated email server supports from now the IMAP4 protocol
which allow - among other things  - for remote users connected to
an IP VPN tunnel, to select on the server the mail they want to
download reducing the connection time and save connection costs.
Alcatel OmniPCX Office improved the users efficiency with its
embedded unified messaging solution, and the integration of a
shared file server.

With the Alcatel OmniPCX Office, small and medium businesses in
80 countries can now benefit from new communications solutions,
said Jean-Luc Fourniou, general manager for Alcatel's Business
Activity. Our objective is to provide these businesses with a
real voice/data converged solution that satisfies their
expectations in order to improve their efficiency, both
internally as well as face to face with their clients.

About the Alcatel OmniPCX Office
The  Alcatel  OmniPCX  Office is an appliance designed for Small
and Medium Enterprises  (SMEs). It consists in a pre-configured
server that integrates Internet, Voice and Data in one single
system. It provides a complete set of services in the simplest
way possible in order to meet Small and Medium Enterprise
expectation in term of communication flow management to enhance
company efficiency and productivity. Alcatel OmniPCX Office is a
modular and scalable solution that can be tailored to fit
customer business needs, organisation needs and IT needs.

About Alcatel
Alcatel designs, develops and builds innovative and competitive
communications networks, enabling carriers, service providers and
enterprises to deliver any type of content, such as voice, data
and multimedia, to any type of consumer, anywhere in the world.
Relying on its leading and comprehensive products and solutions
portfolio, stretching from end-to-end optical infrastructures,
fixed and mobile networks to broadband access, Alcatel's
customers can focus on optimising their service offerings and
revenue streams.  With sales of EURO 25 billion in 2001, Alcatel
operates in more than 130 countries.


NORTEL NETWORKS: Revamps Organization to Streamline Structure
-------------------------------------------------------------
Nortel Networks (NYSE:NT) (TSX:NT.) announced changes to its
organization reflecting a more streamlined structure focused more
directly around its customers in four key businesses: Wireless
Networks, Wireline Networks, Enterprise Networks, and Optical
Networks.

"As we continue to position Nortel Networks for profitability,
the changes we are announcing today will result in an enhanced
performance-driven business model that will ensure greater
accountability and customer alignment," said Frank Dunn,
president and chief executive officer, Nortel Networks. "Our
leadership team continues to be focused on driving the
development and deployment of one of the most powerful portfolios
in the industry."

The leadership management team going forward for the four key
businesses, who will now all be reporting directly to Frank Dunn,
are as follows:

      --  Pascal Debon continues as president, Wireless Networks.

      --  Brian McFadden continues as president, Optical Networks

      --  Sue Spradley is named president, Wireline Networks, and
is responsible for driving cost-effective packet solutions for
Nortel Networks voice, data and multimedia service offerings, as
well as maintaining Nortel Networks leadership position in
circuit technology solutions (formerly part of Metro and
Enterprise Networks).

      --  For the Enterprise Networks business (formerly part of
Metro and Enterprise Networks), Oscar Rodriguez is named
president and general manager, Enterprise Solutions, responsible
for business strategy and investment, and product strategy,
execution and delivery, and Robert Burke continues as president,
Enterprise Marketing, responsible for Enterprise solution and
channel marketing.

Frank Plastina, president, Metro and Enterprise Networks, has
decided to leave Nortel Networks after 15 years of service and
contribution to the business.

Nortel Networks is an industry leader and innovator focused on
transforming how the world communicates and exchanges
information. The Company is supplying its service provider and
enterprise customers with communications technology and
infrastructure to enable value-added IP data, voice and
multimedia services spanning Wireless Networks, Wireline
Networks, Enterprise Networks, and Optical Networks. As a global
Company, Nortel Networks does business in more than 150
countries. More information about Nortel Networks can be found on
the Web at http://www.nortelnetworks.com

DebtTraders reports that Nortel Networks Corp.'s 6.000% bonds due
2003 (NT03CAR1) are trading between 66 and 68. See
http://www.debttraders.com/price.cfm?dt_sec_ticker=NT03CAR1for
more real-time bond pricing.


FRANCE TELECOM: Credit Lyonnais CEO Open to Tender Help
-------------------------------------------------------
Credit Lyonnais SA Chairman Jean Peyrelevade is ready to help
France Telecom SA as soon as the government has given its
backing, according to reports. The French government owns 56% of
the phone company.

While Mr. Peyrelevade considers France Telecom in "technical
situation of insolvency," he also believes that "in reality,
(France Telecom) isn't insolvent because it has the government as
a shareholder.''

The former monopoly struggles under a EUR70-billion (US$68.5
billion) debt load as a result of a EUR60-billion expansion
program. It has EUR15 billion of debt due next year.

Analysts expect that without additional funding the company may
not be able to meet the obligations.

France Telecom's Board of Directors recently nominated Thierry
Breton as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of France Telecom
to replace Michel Bon, who resigned last month.

CONTACT:  FRANCE TELECOM
          6, Place d'Alleray
          75505 Paris Cedex 15, France      
          Phone: +33-1-44-44-22-22
          Fax: +33-1-44-44-95-95
          Home Page: http://www.francetelecom.fr


VIVENDI UNIVERSAL: Maintains Price for Publishing Assets
--------------------------------------------------------
French conglomerate Vivendi Universal maintains the selling price
for its publishing assets at nothing short of an estimated EUR3.5
to EUR4 billion (US$3.4 billion to US$3.9 billion), according to
the Financial Times.

Although there are three rival consortia which showed interest in
the assets, none offered more than EUR3 billion for the
education, trade and consumer publishing operations.

Vivendi Universal, which is launching a EUR12-billion disposal
program, wanted to raise EUR5 billion from the first tranche of
disposal by March of next year.

According to sources, the media company, which targets to cut
EUR19 billion debt by two-thirds in two years, extended the
tender of offers until October 15.  Analysts, however, predict
that the bidders are unlikely to raise the offer.

The bidders include: French buyout firm Eurazeo SA with Carlyle
and Credit Agricole SA's buyout firm; BNP Paribas SA's PAI
Management unit with KKR, Apax Partners, Bain Capital, Blackstone
Group LP, Thomas H. Lee Partners LP and Goldman Sachs Group
Inc.'s private- equity arm; and Lagardere, the French publisher
of Elle and Car & Driver, with Ripplewood Holdings LLC, a New
York-based private- equity fund.

The company was mired in debt as a result of a US$77 billion
acquisition spree of former Chief Executive Officer Jean-Marie
Messier.

CONTACT:  VIVENDI UNIVERSAL
          42 avenue de Friedland
          75380 Paris Cedex 08, France      
          Phone: +33-1-71-71-10-00
          Fax: +33-1-71-71-11-79
          Home Page: http://www.vivendiuniversal.com


=============
G E R M A N Y
=============


COMMERZBANK AG: Denies Rumors of Large Trading Losses
-----------------------------------------------------
Germany's third-largest quoted bank, Commerzbank, denied rumors
of financial crisis after reports came out that Commerzbank has
sustained large trading losses in credit derivatives.

According to The Sunday Telegraph, investors were disturbed about
the leak of information from an e-mail of Merrill Lynch to
Standard & Poor's saying that the rumors of the losses are
circulating.

Commerzbank then assured investors, who were concerned that banks
had withdrawn credit lines, saying the stories "baseless" and
that the company "have been very prudent and avoided the major
corporate bankruptcies such as Enron and WorldCom."

The financial institution also denied speculations that it was
looking to raise new capital.

A report from the Financial Times says, that while Commerzbank
may have grounds to file a suit against Merrill Lynch, it does
not plan to do so.  

Paul Roy, co-president of global markets and investment banking
at Merrill Lynch, insisted that the communication is part of
regular daily contact between its internal credit department and
one of the rating agencies. He was reportedly wondering ho how
the information became public.


COMMERZBANK AG: Mulls on Axing Hundreds of Corporate Banking Jobs
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Commerzbank plans to undertake hundreds of corporate banking job
cuts on top of the 4,300 workforce-reduction scheduled for 2003
after deciding to review its corporate activities, says the
Financial Times.  The redundancies are to affect employees in
Germany and London.

According to the Financial Times report, the bank has also
started to review its lending policies and is expected to reduce
its portfolio to concentrate on a few clients, which will
increase value for shareholders.

In July, TCR-Europe reported that Commerzbank is hoping to save
EUR50 million in its private-clients business by cutting jobs and
working hours as outlined in a new redundancy plan.

The strategy of the bank, which posted losses of EUR185 million
in 2001, is aimed at bringing down group-wide costs from the 2001
level of EUR5.86 billion back to the 2000 level of EUR5.5
billion.

CONTACT:  COMMERZBANK AG
          Kaiserplatz
          60261 Frankfurt, Germany      
          Phone: +49-69-136-20
          Fax: +49-69-28-53-89
          Home Page: http://www.commerzbank.com
  

DEUTSCHE TELEKOM: Zumwinkel Is Leading Candidate for CEO
--------------------------------------------------------
Klaus Zumwinkel, chief executive of Deutsche Post, the German
postal carrier, is seen as the one to possibly head Deutsche
Telekom after Ron Sommer left the position in July, says the
Financial Times.

According to observers, the German telecommunications provider
has already solicited Mr. Zumwinkel's opinion on taking the job.
Mr. Zumwinkel, who the same rumors in July, however, refused to
comment on the report.

Another contender for the position is Kai-Uwe Ricke, a board
member in charge of Deutsche Telekom's mobile operations.

Interim chief executive Helmut Sihler is expected to announce his
successor by mid-November.

Deutsche Telekom, which posted net loss of EUR3.9 billion for the
first half of 2002, is currently conducting a review to solve the
EUR4 to EUR7 billion gap in the company's plan to reduce its debt
to EUR50 billion by the end of 2003.  The company had EUR64.2
billion-debt at the end of June.

CONTACT:  DEUTSCH TELECOM AG
          Friedrich-Ebert-Allee 140
          53113 Bonn, Germany      
          Phone: +49-228-181-0
          Fax: +49-228-181-8872
          Home Page: http://www.telekom.de
  

KIRCHGRUPPE: Deutsche Bank to Auction Stake in Axel Springer
------------------------------------------------------------
Deutsche Bank plans to auction up to EUR800 million-worth (GBP504
million) of stake held against a loan to media giant KirchGruppe,
according to The Times of London.  

Deutsche Bank is auctioning a 40% stake in Axel Springer, the
German publisher of Bild and Die Welt. The bank took the holding
last month after Kirch defaulted on a EUR720 million loan.

KirchGruppe had been granted until September 30 to sell the stake
with the condition that in case it failed to find a buyer for the
rights before the holding, Deutsche banks could take the
collateral for the loan.

The stakes are one of the priced assets of KirchGruppe, the once
mighty German media empire that collapsed under the weight of
some EUR5 billion or so debt-load.

Swiss publisher, Ringier, is understood to be considering buying
the stake, a deal that is expected to create Germany's largest
mass-circulation newspaper publisher.


PEGUFORM GMBH: Workers Sees Bankruptcy as Successful Effort
-----------------------------------------------------------
German automotive supplier Peguform GmbH, which Troy-based
Venture Holdings LLC bought two years ago for US$405 million, was
declared bankrupt, says Detroit Free Press.

The bankruptcy of the German company was seen as a successful
effort to sever ties from the owner, Venture Industries,
according to the workers' union leader, Robert Orzschig.

Mr. Orzschig blamed the millions of provision taken from Peguform
to fill gaps in Venture's finances as the cause of the German
company's collapse.  Peguform filed for preliminary insolvency at
the end of May.

The collapse is also seen to significantly damage the US parent,
which Standard & Poor's analyst, Martin King, described as having
"more than half their overall cash flow (was) in Europe, and all
their debt (is) in the United States".

Venture is a private company owned since 1987 by Chairman and CEO
Larry J. Winget. His son, Larry J. Winget Jr., is chairman of
Peguform, a company manned by 5,500 staff and which accounted for
70% of Venture's 2001 sales of $1.86 billion.

Jobst Wellensiek, the company's insolvency administrator, is
expected to sell Peguform's assets.  Tom De Vleesschauwer, an
analyst with DRI-WEFA in London who specializes in automotive
suppliers, predicts that the likely buyer of Peguform's German
assets is Decoma International Inc., a subsidiary of Canada's
Magna International Inc.


===========
P O L A N D
===========


ELEKTRIM SA: Files Motion Withdrawing Declaration Of Bankruptcy
---------------------------------------------------------------
The Management Board of Elektrim SA announces that it filed with
the Warsaw District Court, XVII Commercial - Bankruptcy and
Composition Division a motion withdrawing the request for
declaration of bankruptcy of Elektrim SA (filed by the Elektrim
SA on September 13, 2002).


ELEKTRIM SA: Reaches Agreement With Bondholders Committee  
---------------------------------------------------------
As already announced Elektrim S.A. agreed a restructuring of
Elektrim Finance B.V.'s ?440 million Exchangeable Bonds due 2004.

A binding Restructuring Agreement, which attaches definitive
terms and conditions for the restructured Bonds, was executed
yesterday by Elektrim and bondholders representing as required in
this agreement over 60% of the aggregate principal amount of the
Bonds.  Elektrim and the bondholders party to the Restructuring
Agreement also plan to enter into an Escrow Agreement to protect
completion of the restructuring.

Under the Escrow Agreement, Elektrim will deposit EUR25 million
in an escrow to fund the first initial payment under the
Restructuring. The restructuring will close shortly after
approval by bondholders at an extraordinary general meeting of
bondholders to be convened in early November.  The resolutions
require approval by 75% of the bonds by principal value in
attendance at this upcoming meeting. The Restructuring Agreement
currently has the written support through voting commitments of
approximately 77.3% of the total outstanding bonds.

The terms and conditions of the restructuring and the amended
bonds provide for the following:

Initial Payments. EUR25 million will be deposited into an escrow
account after execution of the escrow agreement and will be
applied to repay principal at closing. In addition, Elektrim will
repay a further EUR32 million of principal in June 2003, which
will be secured on a EUR32 million loan to be made by Elektrim to
PAK.

Principal Outstanding.  Following the initial payment of EUR25
million on the closing date, the principal amount outstanding of
the Bonds will be reset to approximately EUR485 million.

Interest

The cash coupon payable on the outstanding principal has been
reset at 2% p.a. with effect from the closing.   The cash coupon
will be payable annually, with the first such payment due on 15
December 2003.  The cash coupon will adjust up to 4% p.a. in the
event that Elektrim declines to sell Elektrim's stake in ET after
receiving a binding offer that meets certain valuation and other
criteria as set in the Restructuring Agreement.

Redemption Prices; Maturity.  From and after the closing, the
redemption price will accrete at 1% per annum through the date of
maturity, which will be extended to December 15, 2005.

Security

The restructured bonds will be secured by pledges of Elektrim's
stake in Elektrim Telekomunikacja and certain other assets. The
Restructuring Agreement complies with certain existing
restrictions for disposal by Elektrim of shares in Elektrim
Telekomunikacja.

Sources of Funds  

The initial payment of EUR25 million will be sourced from
existing funds. The PAK loan will also be advanced from existing
funds by Elektrim to PAK in the coming weeks to fund capital
expenditure and other obligations that are current this year in
PAK.  The terms of the amended bonds will provide flexibility to
Elektrim to source additional required funding and to secure
additional financing on a prudent basis through the pledge of
significant assets including PAK, Elektrim-Megadex S.A.,
Elektrim's equity in Mostostal Warszawa and Rafako and certain
other assets.  In such circumstances the terms and conditions of
the Bonds provide a mechanism for pledging such assets to new
lenders of Elektrim on a first ranking basis.

Consensus Management.  The Restructuring Agreement, in order to
preserve interests of shareholders and bondholders, provides that
as of the closing date one member of the management board is to
be appointed in accordance with nominations by representatives of
the bondholders. Appointment of such member of the board will
require Supervisory Board decision.  Failure to provide a
management board organized in such a manner will constitute a
breach under the amended Bonds.

Contingent Payment.  Following the maturity date in December
2005, the amended bond terms provide for an additional contingent
payment to bondholders in the event the fair value of Elektrim at
that time, net of debt, exceeds EUR160 million.  The amount of
the contingent payment, if any, rises from 10 - 25% of the fair
value in proportion to the time required for Elektrim to repay
the principal on the Bonds in full, providing an incentive
structure for early repayment.

CONTACT: Jacek Dabrowski
         Director
         Investor Relations
         Tel:(+48 22) 432 87 75
         Fax (+48 22) 432 84 75
         email: jacek_dabrowski@elektrim.pl


=====================
S W I T Z E R L A N D
=====================


CREDIT SUISSE: Comments on the Recent Development of Share Price
----------------------------------------------------------------
Due to the drop in its share price yesterday and today, Credit
Suisse Group wishes to announce that it is not aware of any
objective reasons prompting this development. The Group's present
capital resources remain adequate, and as stated before, no
capital increase of the Group is planned.

Credit Suisse Group

Credit Suisse Group is a leading global financial services
company headquartered in Zurich. The business unit Credit Suisse
Financial Services provides private clients and small and medium-
sized companies with private banking and financial advisory
services, banking products, and pension and insurance solutions
from Winterthur. The business unit Credit Suisse First Boston, an
investment bank, serves global institutional, corporate,
government and individual clients in its role as a financial
intermediary. Credit Suisse Group's registered shares (CSGN) are
listed in Switzerland, Frankfurt and Tokyo, and in the form of
American Depositary Shares (CSR) in New York. The Group employs
around 80,000 staff worldwide. As of June 30, 2002, it reported
assets under management of CHF 1,293.2 billion.

CONTACT: Credit Suisse Group
         Investor Relations
         Tel: 41 1 333 4570
         Website: http://www.creditsuisse.com


===========================
U N I T E D   K I N G D O M
===========================


ABERDEEN ASSET: Abandons GBP18-Million Plan to Build New Office
---------------------------------------------------------------
Aberdeen Asset Management abandoned a GBP18-million plan to build
a new, global headquarters in Aberdeen University's historic
Marischal College building as its cut cost base.  

According to The Scotsman, a spokesman for the company said, the
plan is placed on hold. The fund management company had
envisioned to occupy half of the building and rent out the
remaining space to other companies.  Part of the envisaged
structure is a 300-vehicle car park.

Aberdeen Asset targets to cut between eight and 12% from its cost
base after weak markets and the slide of business four split
capital trusts went into receivership.

The firm has also been reported to postpone bonuses to reduce
cost by as much as GBP30 million. The fund management company has
been under pressure from investors to stem the decline in the
company's stock due to the receivership.  The firm's shares
plunged 77% on the report.

CONTACT:  ABERDEEN ASSET MANAGEMENT PLC  
           1 Albyn Place  
           Aberdeen, Grampian AB10 1YG  
           United Kingdom  
           Phone: +44-1224-631-999  
           Fax: +44-1224-647-010  
           Home Page: http://www.aberdeen-asset.com


ABERDEEN ASSET: Announces Trading Statement
-------------------------------------------
Operational Highlights

-Resilient trading despite difficult market conditions
-Cost reduction programme to save more than GBP25 million in a
full year
-Net new business at GBP1.25 billion, before de-gearing of split
capital trusts
-GBP812 million of debt repaid by split capital closed end funds

Ahead of entering the close period prior to the announcement on 2
December 2002 of its preliminary results for the 12 months to 30
September 2002, Aberdeen Asset Management PLC issues the
following trading update.

Summary of operations

There has been continuing weakness and volatility in global stock
markets. The Aberdeen Group is responding to this rapid change
and has continued to operate profitably from a well-diversified
business base. The industry-wide downturn in equity products has
been offset by strong performance from our fixed income and
property divisions.

The industry as a whole is seeing significant inflows into fixed
interest products and property as an asset class, both of which
continue to ride the economic storm well. Outstanding performance
from Asian equities is attracting attention world-wide. This
plays to the Group's strengths. Set against this is the
performance of equity markets generally and the problems in the
split capital closed end funds sector.

Aberdeen's direct property management division, Aberdeen Property
Investors, has grown to become one of the largest managers of
third party assets in Europe. It now accounts for 25 % of assets
under management and is a strong contributor to group profits.
Aberdeen Property Investors has attracted new business totalling
over GBP500 million during the period. In Asia, a total of six
new institutional mandates worth GBP106 million have been secured
over the course of the year and a strong flow of new proposals
continues.

Net new business for the Group overall at GBP1.25 billion is down
37 % on the year, with many investors understandably deferring
investment decisions. Assets under management were approximately
GBP24.8 billion as at 31 August 2002, which represents a net
decline of 9.6 % compared to the 31 March 2002 total of GBP27.0
billion (which excludes the assets previously managed for
Scottish Provident, for which the contract was ended at that
date). This compares favourably with a 12.6 % fall in the FTSE
All Share index over the same period.

Open Ended Funds

Open-ended funds in the U.K. now account for GBP5.0 billion or 20 %
of funds under management. In line with the rest of the industry,
the U.K. retail market remains weak and gross retail sales of unit
trusts and OEICS are down 28% on last year at GBP848 million for
the period. We believe the issues affecting our retail unit trust
fund flows are mainly related to the market conditions as a
whole; however, we are sensitive to the impact of the split
capital closed end funds issues.

The Group recently featured as the most popular provider of fixed
interest funds amongst U.K. IFAs in a survey of the IFA market.
Notwithstanding the testing market environment, fund performance
has continued to improve: amongst our competitors in the U.K. we
have the third largest number of A rated or better unit trust
funds according to Standard & Poors Fund Research: some 14 in
all. Including our offshore funds, we have 24 A or better rated
funds. Inflows to the Group's offshore funds remain strong,
particularly in Asia, which has seen an
upsurge in demand for investment products as compared to last
year, attracting GBP80 million of retail funds, as well as six
new institutional mandates of GBP106 million.

Split capital closed end funds

Across the sector, 18 split capital closed end funds (out of 138)
have now suspended trading in their shares. Subsequently, some of
them have gone into administrative receivership or liquidation.
Four of these funds were managed or advised by Aberdeen Asset
Managers. The loss of these funds (Media & Income Trust PLC,
Aberdeen High Income Trust PLC, Leveraged Income Fund Limited and
Aberdeen Preferred Income Trust PLC) is a considerable blow to
investors, their Boards and to us as Managers. It is a matter of
the greatest regret to the Group.

In conjunction with the Boards of the other 15 Aberdeen-managed
split funds, we continue to explore every opportunity to restore
market confidence within the sector and to manage portfolios and
fund structures in adverse conditions. Such initiatives are,
however, in the face of falling markets and falling asset values:
split capital income shares as a sector have fallen by
approximately 65 % since January 2002 and the FTSE 100 has fallen
by 29 % over the same period.

The continued deterioration in stock markets and the de-rating of
the splits sector has led to corporate actions and further debt
repayments by a number of the Boards of Aberdeen-managed funds.
During the past year, Aberdeen-managed split funds have repaid
GBP812 million in bank borrowings, substantially de-gearing them
and reducing their risk profile during the sustained downturn.

As at 31 August 2002, the fifteen splits managed by the Group
accounted for GBP1.6 billion or 6 % of assets under management.

Other closed end funds

The Group's remaining closed end funds business (24 funds)
accounted for GBP3.4 billion under management as at 31 August
2002. The majority of these funds continue to perform
satisfactorily within their various mandates but, in absolute
terms, continue to face difficult equity market conditions. Of
note is the outstanding performance of our deep value investing
company, Asset Value Investors. British Empire & General
Securities Trust PLC has again secured the S&P award for the best
performing global investment trust.

GBP1.83 billion of closed end fund assets are listed on North
American markets. The largest closed end fund, Aberdeen Asia
Pacific Income Fund Inc (GBP1.2 billion), has recently reported
strong returns and is up 29% in share price terms over the last
year.

Cost reduction programme

The Group recognises the importance of controlling costs, which
is particularly relevant in times of weak markets. Overhead
reductions equivalent to GBP15 million in a full year have
already been implemented and the second phase of this exercise,
intended to cut a further GBP10 million to GBP15 million from the
overhead, or 8 - 12 % of total operating costs on an annual
basis, has now begun. We have merged offices and teams where
practicable and intend to further exploit synergies which will
result from this strategy to ensure that
the Group's business capability will not be diminished by the
changes.

As part of this process, certain executive directors have
volunteered to postpone the deferred bonuses previously awarded
to them and disclosed in the 2001 annual report for at least one
year, and have voluntarily agreed to a reduction in their basic
pay by up to one third. In addition the Group does not intend to
pay bonuses to the executive directors, except for the property
division, for the year to 30 September 2002.

Progressive Growth Uplift Update

The Group made an announcement in June this year in respect of a
proposed uplift package for the Progressive Growth Unit Trust.
Detailed discussions are continuing with the relevant parties.
Full details will be sent to Aberdeen Asset Management PLC
shareholders and Progressive Growth unitholders when these
discussions are concluded.

CONTACT: Aberdeen Asset Management PLC     
         Martin Gilbert          
         Tel: 020 7463 6246


ABERDEEN ASSET: Notification of Major Interests in Shares
---------------------------------------------------------
Name of company: Aberdeen Asset Management Plc

Name of shareholder having a major interest:
FMR Corp and its direct and indirect subsidiaries and Fidelity
International Ltd and its direct and indirect subsidiaries both
being non-beneficial holders.

Name of the registered holder(s) and, if more than one holder,
the number of shares held by each of them:
a. Chase Nominees Limited - 2,584,738
b. State Street Nominees Ltd - 489,100
c. Chase Manhattan Bank London- 3,870,428
Class of security: ordinary shares of 10 pence
Date of transaction: September 27 2002
Date company informed: October 3 2002
Total holding following this notification: 6,944,266
Total percentage holding of issued class following this
notification:
3.96%

Name of contact and telephone number for queries:
John Brett
Tel: 01224 631999
Name and signature of authorised company official responsible for
making this notification:
John Brett, Company Secretary
Date of notification: October 4 2002


COOKSON GROUP: Notification of Major Interests in Shares
--------------------------------------------------------
Name of company: Cookson Group Plc
Name of shareholder having a major interest: Standard Life Group
Name of the registered holder(s) and, if more than one holder,
the number of shares held by each of them: Stanlife Nominees
Limited
Number of shares/amount of stock acquired: 4,501,478
Percentage of issued class: 0.24%
Class of security: ordinary shares of 1 pence each
Date of transaction: October 3 2002
Date company informed: October 4 2002
Total holding following this notification: 78,467,869 shares
Total percentage holding of issued class following this
notification:
4.15%
Name of contact and telephone number for queries:
Alan Wallwork
Asst Company Secretary
Cookson Group Plc
Tel: 020 7766 4537
Name and signature of authorised company official responsible for
making this notification: Alan Wallwork, Asst Company Secretary,
Cookson Group Plc
Date of notification: October 4 2002


EQUITABLE LIFE: Counts on Substantial Assets to Avoid Bankruptcy
----------------------------------------------------------------
Equitable Life, the insurer that recently denied planning for
possible insolvency recently, has close to 1 billion in assets
available before it would be effectively declared bankrupt and
forced into administration, says The Sunday Telegraph.

Almost two weeks ago, the assurer was reported to have contacted
accountants Deloitte & Touche as possible administrators.

A spokesman for the assurer, however, denied that the firm is
considering administration, saying that it is only undertaking
"responsible contingency planning on a periodic basis".  The
spokesman reiterated that the company had always been solvent.

The t1 billion is believed to assure the mutual life insurer's
1.5 million policyholders who were concerned of the report.

The Financial Services Authority, together with the management,
views administration as the last resort for the company.

Equitable believes that a provision of more than t100 million is
necessary to appoint an administrator. This would be charged to
the with-profits fund directly, further reducing returns for the
mutual's policyholders.

According to experts, administration of an insurer, may result to
pension payouts being reduced or even frozen, and may also bar
people from surrendering policies or gaining benefits from
maturing policies.

According to experts, administration of an insurer, may result to
pension payouts being reduced or even frozen, and may also bar
people from surrendering policies or gaining benefits from
maturing policies.

Although the insurer is understood to be on the verge of breaking
its required minimum margin level of technical solvency, it is
clarified that a breach of the margin does not mean technical
insolvency since the margin is set far higher to provide a
cushion, says the report. The margin is set only to ensure an
insurer's liabilities do not exceed its assets.

FSA, meanwhile, is said to be preparing to allow Equitable Life
to continue operation even if it falls below the required minimum
margin.

         
FUTURE NETWORK: Appoints UBS Warburg as Sole Broker
---------------------------------------------------
The Future Network plc, the international specialist consumer
magazine publisher, is pleased to announce the appointment of UBS
Warburg as sole broker to the Company, with immediate effect.

CONTACT: The Future Network plc
         Greg Ingham
         Chief Executive                         
         Tel: 01225 442244
         John Bowman
         Finance Director
         UBS Warburg
         Julian Hirst                                         
         Tel: 020 7568 7284


FUTURE NETWORK: Notification of Directors' Interests in Shares
--------------------------------------------------------------
The Future Network plc, the international specialist consumer
magazine publisher, announces that, pursuant to the Company's
Sharesave Plan, it has granted options over a total of 368,550
shares at an exercise price of 50 pence per share.

Included in this total are options over 18,900 shares for Colin
Morrison, Chief Operating Officer, and 18,900 shares for John
Bowman, Finance Director.

CONTACT: The Future Network plc
         Mark Millar
         Company Secretary             
         Tel: 01225 822764


INVENSYS PLC: Sells Drive Systems for US$145 Million
----------------------------------------------------
Invensys plc, the international production technology and energy
management Group, announces that it has agreed to sell its Drive
Systems business to NewCo (Eastern) Ltd, a company formed by the
management team of Invensys Drive Systems and their investment
partner Compass Partners European Equity Fund, L.P., for a cash
consideration of US$145m. The sale proceeds will be used by
Invensys to continue to reduce its level of indebtedness.

Drive Systems is a leading global supplier of AC inverters, DC
drives, Servo and Vector controllers. For the twelve months
ending March 31, 2002, the business generated revenues of US$115m
and operating profit of US$20m. Net operating assets, which are
the subject of the transaction are approximately US$40m. Goodwill
totals $US158m (of which US$31m is already written off to
reserves) and relates primarily to the acquisition of Eurotherm
plc in 1998.

The sale of Drive Systems is consistent with Invensys' previously
stated objectives to divest non-core assets as part of its
overall plan to improve capital strength and increase strategic
focus. The transaction is subject to customary regulatory
approvals and is expected to complete by the end of November
2002.

Rick Haythornthwaite, CEO of Invensys, said:
'Our original target for disposal proceeds was o1.5bn by the end
of our financial year. With this sale we have now exceeded our
target and reached a total of almost o1.6 billion, with Fasco
Motors still to sell. We are delighted at both the pace of
disposals and the prices achieved.'

Invensys plc (http://www.invensys.com)isa global leader in  
production technology and energy management. The group helps
customers improve their performance and profitability using
innovative services and technologies and a deep understanding of
their industries and applications.


CONTACT: Invensys plc
         Duncan Bonfield
         Tel: +44 (0) 20 7821 3529
         

KINGFISHER PLC: Announces Changes in Management Board
-----------------------------------------------------
Kingfisher plc announced the following Board changes:

Phil Bentley (aged 43) has been appointed a non-executive
Director.  He is currently Group Finance Director of Centrica plc
and brings considerable financial, treasury and other commercial
experience to the Kingfisher Board, having also previously held
senior positions in BP and Diageo. He will become Chairman of the
audit committee after its next meeting on 8 November 2002.

Hartmut Kramer (aged 55) will join the Board as a non-executive
Director on 8 November 2002.  He has many years of experience of
European retailing, having been CEO of the retail clothing group,
Peek & Cloppenburg, and subsequently of Groupe Redcats, the home
shopping division of Pinault-Printemps-Redoute.

Anthony Percival (aged 62) will retire from the Board on 31
October 2002 when his present contract expires.  He has been an
executive Director since 1995 and was Finance Director from 1995
to 1998.

John Bullock (aged 69) will retire from the Board on 31 December
2002.  He has been a non-executive Director since 1993 and is
both chairman of the Kingfisher audit committee and a member of
the CDI audit committee.

Welcoming the new appointments, Kingfisher's Chairman, Francis
Mackay said:
'I am looking forward to the contribution that both Phil Bentley
and Hartmut Kramer will be able to make to the Board as
Kingfisher continues its transformation into a dedicated and
integrated pan-European home improvement business.  I would like
to express the Board's appreciation for the time commitment and
the contributions and detailed input that Anthony Percival and
John Bullock have each made to the development of the business
whilst they have been Directors of Kingfisher. We wish both of
them enjoyable and well-earned retirements.'

Sir Geoffrey Mulcahy, Chief Executive said:

'I would also like to welcome Phil Bentley and Harmut Kramer to
the Board and to add my own note of thanks to John Bullock and
Anthony Percival for their years of service to Kingfisher.  Both
of them have provided us with excellent advice and guidance in
their capacities as Directors of Kingfisher and they leave the
Board with our thanks, appreciation, and good wishes for the
future.'

CONTACT: Broker and Institutional Enquiries
         Ian Harding
         Director of Investor Relations                
         Tel: +44 (0) 207 725 4889


KINGFISHER PLC: Announces Director's Shareholding
-------------------------------------------------
Kingfisher plc became aware on 4 October 2002 that:

1) Certain Directors of Kingfisher plc, whose names are set out
below, technically became interested on that date in 588,957
Kingfisher plc ordinary shares of 13.75p each by virtue of the
ESOP (a discretionary trust established by Kingfisher plc for the
benefit of its employees and those of its subsidiaries)
exercising rights to require Kingfisher to allot shares under
arrangements for it to satisfy share options granted to
employees.

2) Each of the below-named Directors of Kingfisher plc
technically ceased to be interested on that date in 588,957
Kingfisher plc ordinary shares of 13.75p each by virtue of the
ESOP arranging for the allotment of such shares directly to the
order of the employees exercising those options.

Note:
For Companies Act purposes, certain Directors of Kingfisher plc,
whose names are set out below, together with all employees of the
Company, are deemed to have a technical interest in any shares in
which Kingfisher's ESOP has an interest. The interest ceases when
the ESOP ceases to have such an interest.

Directors:
Sir Geoffrey Mulcahy
Mr William Whiting
Mr Ian Cheshire
Ms Helen Weir
M. Jean-Noel Labroue

CONTACT: Catherine Callaghan
         Group Share Schemes Manager
         Tel: 020 7725 5830


P&O PRINCESS: Receives Federal Trade Commission Clearance
---------------------------------------------------------
Highlights
* Today the United States Federal Trade Commission announced that
it would not oppose either the DLC combination with Royal
Caribbean or Carnival's takeover proposal.

* The Board continues to believe that the agreed DLC combination
with Royal Caribbean will accelerate the creation of value for
P&O Princess shareholders, and the Board continues to recommend
that transaction.

* Now that one of its key original concerns, deliverability on
the regulatory front, has been removed, the Board has re-examined
the Carnival offers and focused on Carnival's proposal to enter
into a DLC combination as an alternative to its share exchange
offer.

* The Board considers the Carnival DLC alternative to be more
attractive than Carnival's share exchange offer because many P&O
Princess U.K. institutional shareholders would be unwilling or
unable to hold Carnival's US shares. For these shareholders, the
Carnival share exchange offer would be, in effect, a forced cash
sale at a time when the price they would receive might not
adequately reflect the full value of the company's future
prospects.

* After consulting with its advisers, the Board has concluded
that a DLC combination with Carnival is both feasible and
financially more attractive than the agreed DLC combination with
Royal Caribbean.

* Accordingly, as permitted by its agreement with Royal
Caribbean, the Board has decided to enter into talks with
Carnival to discuss Carnival's DLC proposal.

* In the meantime, P&O Princess is taking the necessary steps to
reconvene the adjourned EGM before November 16, the termination
date of the Royal Caribbean agreement.

* Together with Royal Caribbean, P&O Princess is examining ways
of changing their agreement so that their combination can be
approved by a simple majority vote, putting the Royal Caribbean
merger and the Carnival share exchange offer on a more equal
footing so far as shareholder approval is concerned.

Peter Ratcliffe, Chief Executive of P&O Princess said today:

'We are pleased that the regulatory position is now clear.

'One of our principal concerns about the Carnival proposal -
namely deliverability on the regulatory front - has now been
removed. We have decided that we can and should begin talking to
them about their DLC proposal.

'We are focussing on the Carnival DLC alternative as many of our
shareholders are unable to hold the Carnival US shares which they
would receive in a share exchange offer and might not get full
value when they are forced to sell those shares.

'Although we will be talking to Carnival, we continue to believe
that the agreed combination with Royal Caribbean will accelerate
the creation of value for our shareholders. We have kept Royal
Caribbean informed as to the Board's deliberations and are
working with them to reconvene the EGM, ideally with a
shareholder approval threshold on an equal footing with the
Carnival proposal.

'We are determined to do everything we can to ensure the best
possible future for P&O Princess and its employees and to create
the best value for our shareholders.'

This summary should be read in conjunction with the full text of
this announcement, which is set out below.

P&O Princess Cruises plc notes the decision of the United States
Federal Trade Commission to clear both the agreed dual listed
company combination with Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. and
Carnival Corporation's ('Carnival') proposed acquisition of P&O
Princess.

Royal Caribbean DLC combination
The Board of P&O Princess (the 'Board') continues to believe that
the agreed DLC combination with Royal Caribbean will accelerate
the creation of value for P&O Princess shareholders and notes
that the only significant remaining condition to the completion
of the combination is approval by the shareholders of each
company.

Talks with Carnival
Now that the regulatory uncertainties have been removed, the
Board has re-examined the written offers made by Carnival prior
to the adjourned Extraordinary General Meeting ('EGM'). In those
offers Carnival proposed, as an alternative to its share exchange
offer, a DLC combination with P&O Princess on the same economic
terms.

After consulting with its financial and legal advisers, the Board
has determined that a DLC combination with Carnival is feasible
and reasonably likely to be consummated. The Board has also
determined in consultation with its financial advisers that,
taking into account the potential synergies for each transaction,
a DLC with Carnival is more favourable from a financial point of
view to P&O Princess shareholders than the agreed DLC combination
with Royal Caribbean. As a result, the Board has decided that it
would be in the interests of P&O Princess shareholders and the
company for P&O Princess to enter into talks with Carnival.

The implementation agreement with Royal Caribbean specifically
provides that P&O Princess may talk with a third party bidder in
these circumstances without breaching the agreement or giving
Royal Caribbean a termination right. P&O Princess has notified
Royal Caribbean of its decision to have talks with Carnival.

Advantages of a DLC structure to P&O Princess shareholders
The Board has focused on the DLC alternative because it would
give all of P&O Princess' shareholders the opportunity to retain
their shares and participate in the future upside potential of a
combination with Carnival. By contrast, the Board believes that
many of P&O Princess' U.K. institutional shareholders would be
unable or unwilling to hold the Carnival shares they would
receive under the terms of Carnival's share exchange offer
because those shares would not be included in the FTSE indices.
For this significant block of shareholders, the share exchange
offer would, in effect, be a forced cash sale at a time when the
price they would receive might not adequately reflect the full
value of the Company's future prospects.

The Board continues to believe the DLC Combination with Royal
Caribbean can be implemented without any adverse US tax
consequences. The Board also believes the same is true for a DLC
with Carnival and notes that, in any event, Carnival's previously
expressed concerns in this area should have been eliminated by
the changes to the 'publicly traded' test in the new draft
Section 883 tax regulations.

It should be noted, however, that Carnival is not under any
Takeover Code or contractual obligation to enter into a DLC with
P&O Princess and there are issues relating to Carnival's DLC
proposal that P&O Princess would like to explore in discussions
with Carnival. Accordingly, the Board is not in a position to
recommend Carnival's current DLC proposal.

Board recommendation

The Board hereby reconfirms its approval and recommendation of
the contractually committed DLC combination with Royal Caribbean,
as set out in the circular to P&O Princess shareholders dated 27
December 2001, including the conclusion that the Royal Caribbean
combination is in the best interests of P&O Princess shareholders
as a whole.

As required by the Takeover Code, the Board, which has been so
advised by Schroder Salomon Smith Barney, confirms that it
considers the terms of the DLC combination with Royal Caribbean
to be fair and reasonable. In providing advice to the Board,
Schroder Salomon Smith Barney has taken into account the Board's
commercial assessments.

Horst Rahe, a non-executive director of P&O Princess, has excused
himself from Board decisions relating to these transactions
because he has a potential conflict of interest arising from
benefits he may obtain under change of control provisions in the
Aida Cruises sale and purchase agreement.

Shareholder approval

P&O Princess and Royal Caribbean are each taking the necessary
steps to reconvene their respective shareholder meetings before
16 November, the first date on which either party can terminate
the implementation agreement. Further information on the timing
of the reconvened P&O Princess EGM will be released in due
course.

At present, the DLC Combination with Royal Caribbean must be
approved by a 75% vote of P&O Princess shareholders. Although it
currently has a 90% acceptance condition, Carnival could declare
its share exchange offer unconditional if it is accepted by
holders of a majority of P&O Princess' shares.

Together with Royal Caribbean, P&O Princess is examining ways of
changing their agreement so that the combination of their two
businesses can be approved by a majority vote of P&O Princess'
shareholders. This change would put the Royal Caribbean merger
and the Carnival share exchange offer on a more equal footing as
far as shareholder approval is concerned.

Profit forecast

In accordance with the provisions of the Takeover Code, P&O
Princess is now required to update its 2002 profit forecast for
the company on a stand alone basis, and to have the forecast
reported on by KPMG and Schroder Salomon Smith Barney.
Accordingly, P&O Princess intends to issue a revised 2002
forecast, together with a trading update, on Tuesday 8 October
2002.

A further announcement will be made in due course.

CONTACT: P&O Princess Cruises plc
         Tel: +44 (0) 20 7805 1200
         Caroline Keppel-Palmer
         Tel: +44 (0) 7730 732015
         David James (Corporate Broking)

       
TADPOLE TECHNOLOGY: Announces Proposed Sale of Hardware Division
------ ---------------------------------------------------------
The Company is pleased to announce the proposed sale of the
business and assets of its Hardware Division, which comprises TTI
(Tadpole
Technology, Inc.) in the US and certain business and assets in
the U.K., to Tadpole, Inc. The total consideration for the
transaction will be up to US$11.6 million (approximately GBP7.5
million), payable as to approximately US$3.1 million in cash
(US$0.5m on closing and US$2.6m 15 weeks later), US$2.5 million
in the form of a 7.5 per cent five-year subordinated promissory
note and US$6.0 million in the form of a 5 per cent five-year
convertible subordinated promissory note. At the option of the
Company, the US$6.0 million convertible subordinated promissory
note may be converted into such number of shares that equal 19.5
per cent of the enlarged issued share capital of Tadpole, Inc.
Completion of the transaction is conditional upon, inter alia,
approval of the Company's shareholders.

The Purchaser is a company established under the laws of the
state of Delaware, U.S.A. by a consortium led by a Hong Kong
based investor and will also include Mark Johnston and John
Bannon. Mark Johnston and John Bannon are directors of the
purchaser and also currently together hold 23 per cent of the
total membership interests of Tadpole Technology, LLC, a company
within the Hardware Division and are employed by that company.
These membership units are common units, which carry voting
rights but do not carry guaranteed rights to a return on capital.

Information on the Hardware Division
The Hardware Division, in its current form, came about as a
result of the acquisition of Cycle by the Company in December
2000 and its subsequent integration with Tadpole-RDI. The
Division builds and markets specialised UNIX(R) platforms and
solutions for compute intensive environments and its main product
and revenue streams continue to be the Sparc/Solaris laptop
computers and rack-mounted servers.

Tadpole's Hardware Division has OEM Technology Partner status
with Sun Microsystems. It designs and markets systems based upon
Sun Sparc/Solaris technology. The Hardware Division continues to
focus on the Sun Microsystems customer base. Whilst the market
slow down has made trading more challenging, the Hardware
Division has taken the opportunity to further strengthen its
position by forging ahead with several new partnerships and
alliances, including those with BCCI (storage virtualisation),
Kirchman Corp. (bank in a box) and Nexor Ltd (messaging and
directory services). The Hardware Division has also entered into
a business pact with Sun Federal and the potential for this
business was strengthened when it was awarded Sun reseller status
in California. Tadpole is now able to meet a Sun customer's total
needs including rack-mount Compute Farms for electronic design
automation and the data centre for conventional commercial
applications.

Recent developments in the Hardware Division

Research and development in the Hardware Division has recently
been focused on new technology based around TCP/IP (Transmission
Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) offload engines, which enable
higher data transfer speeds at lower costs. The conventional
method of input from and output to IP networks can use more than
70 per cent of a CPU's (Central Processing Unit) processing time
and therefore impedes its performance to a considerable extent.
This new technology known as TOE (TCP/IP offload engine) moves
much of the processing to other boards within a server thereby
offloading the server CPU and dramatically improving the
performance of the system.

Background to, and reasons for, the proposed Sale

The Tadpole Group has taken a strategic decision to focus new
investment on the Software Division and the Directors believe
that the time is now right to commit the Group's full management
and cash resources in this area. The Directors also believe that
Endeavors is a potential leader in the 'peer-to-peer' software
sector, a position it needs to maintain in order to succeed in a
competitive marketplace.

Whilst previous plans for the Hardware Division were not met due
to the well-publicised reductions in capital expenditure
undertaken by corporations and the subsequent fall in customer
orders, considerable effort has been made on the part of the
Board and the management of TTI to control costs through re-
structuring and resource realignment. This, together with
investment by the Hardware Division in new technologies,
has positioned this division for any potential upturn in the
market.

As with any new technology with considerable potential, TOE
requires further investment and, as previously stated, Tadpole's
Board wishes to focus all new investment on the Software
Division. The Board has therefore sought to ensure that the
Hardware Division receives new investment from third parties
whilst the Tadpole Group retains the opportunity to participate
in future value enhancing events

The sale of the Hardware Division is to a buyer who intends to
commit the necessary funding to research and development, and the
structure of the sale will enable Shareholders not only to
benefit from the future focus of the Company on the Software
Division within the Retained Group (the Tadpole Group following
the Sale), but also to benefit from the longer term potential of
the Hardware Division (without the Company having to commit
resources to it) through the Group's option over 19.5 per cent of
the share capital of the Purchaser.

In addition, following the sale the Company will have the right
to a position on the board of the Purchaser, which we intend
Bernard Hulme to take up.

Application of the Sale Proceeds

The initial cash element of the consideration will be used by the
Retained Group to further invest and focus on the Software
Division.

Financial Information on the Hardware Division

As at 30 September 2001, the latest date to which audited
accounts were prepared, the Hardware Division had net assets of
GBP3.61million (excluding Goodwill) and made an operating loss of
GBP310,000 and a post tax loss of GBP1.18 million. Unaudited
figures for the six months ended 31 March 2002 showed net assets
of GBP2.88million (excluding Goodwill), an operating profit of
GBP212,000 and a loss after tax of GBP263,000.

Trading Update

Progress in the Software Division, which will be the retained
entity in the Tadpole Group, has been in line with guidance given
in the interim statement. The Hardware Division has continued to
experience slow demand for server systems which will result in
its revenues for the second half being lower than in the first
half year. In anticipation of the sale announced here, we also
added new hardware development investment for the TOE project
(see 'Recent developments in the Hardware Division'). We
anticipate that the overall operating loss will be similar to
last year.

Future Prospects

The Board has stated consistently that its goal is to create a
significant software business and the Group's software businesses
are at different phases in their evolution. Following the sale of
the Hardware Division, all focus will be on Cartesia and
Endeavors, which will form the backbone of the Group going
forward.

Extraordinary General Meeting

Owing to the size of the proposed sale and the related party
aspects referred to above, the transaction requires the approval
of Shareholders at an Extraordinary General Meeting. A circular
to Shareholders, including a notice of the Extraordinary General
Meeting will be posted to shareholders in due course.

CONTACT: Bernard Hulme
         Group Chief Executive,
         Tadpole Technology plc
         Tel: 01223 428200


TELEWEST COMMUNICATIONS: S& P Downgrades Ratings to "SD"
--------------------------------------------------------
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services downgraded the long-term
corporate credit ratings on Telewest Communications PLC fro CC to
"SD" after the the broadband communications and media group
failed to pay interest coupons due October 1, 2002 on 9.625 pct
and 11 pct senior notes.  The 9.625 pct notes mature 2006 while
the 11 pct ones mature 2007.

According to AFX News, Leandro De Torres Zabala, director at S&P
Corporate Ratings Europe, believes that Telewest will not meet
the coupon payment despite the 30-day grace period included in
the terms of the notes.

Telewest recently reached an agreement with an ad hoc committee
of bondholders on its restructuring plan.  In a statement, the
company said that the principal terms of the agreement includes:

(i) all outstanding notes and debentures issued by Telewest and
Telewest Finance (Jersey) Limited, representing approximately
o3.5 billion of indebtedness, and certain other unsecured
obligations of Telewest will be cancelled and exchanged for
ordinary shares representing 97 per cent. of the issued ordinary
share capital of the Company immediately following the
restructuring;

(ii) the current ordinary shareholders will receive the remaining
3% of Telewest's issued ordinary share capital; and

(iii) the senior secured credit facility, all vendor financing,
trade debt and other obligations of Telewest Communications
Networks Limited and its subsidiaries will be unimpaired.

Telewest Communications, the broadband communications and media
group, currently passes 4.9 million homes and provides multi-
channel television, telephone and internet services to around 1.8
million U.K. households, and voice and data telecommunications
services to around 74, 300 business customers. Its content
division, Flextech, is the biggest provider of basic channels to
the U.K. pay-TV market and is the BBC's partner in U.K.TV, which has
a portfolio of pay-TV channels based on the corporation's
programming, including U.K. Gold.

CONTACT:  Telewest
          Charles Burdick, Managing Director
          Phone: 020 7299 5000
          Richard Williams, Investor Relations
          Phone: 020 7299 5479

          Brunswick
          John Sunnucks/Craig Breheny
          Phone: 020 7404 5959

          Schroder Salomon Smith Barney
          David Kirshenbaum/Matthew Smith
          Phone: 020 7986 4000
      
          Gleacher & Co
          Rob Engel/Michael Pescod
          Phone: 020 7484 1150


TXU EUROPE: Financial Woes Affect Profits of American Parent
------------------------------------------------------------
US-based TXU Corp. announced that problems with its British
subsidiary, TXU Europe, will cut profits for the year, says The
Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

According to the report, the electricity generator has been
plagued by a decline in wholesale electricity prices as a result
of surplus electrical generation in Great Britain.

The slump in prices trimmed profit margins for electricity sold
in daily spot markets and "put TXU on the wrong side of futures
contracts with settlement prices higher than current rates," says
the report. TXU Europe lost residential and commercial customers
to other electricity providers who take advantage of the low spot
prices to offer clients with electricity at lower rates.

In the second quarter, the electricity generator's net income
dropped to US$33 million, from US$86 million in the same period
last year.

TXU Chairman Erle Nye committed to sending personnel to London to
implement greater oversight, and did not rule out possible
management changes. He had earlier dispatched a team to London
headed by Chief Financial Officer Michael McNally to conduct an
in-depth review of the British business.

Nye also disclosed that TXU Europe is renegotiating long-term
electricity contracts to lessen the impact of the crisis.

The chairman maintained that there is no liquidity crisis with
TXU Europe.


TXU EUROPE: Fitch Comments on TXU Europe Ltd. Downgrade
-------------------------------------------------------
Fitch Ratings has lowered the senior unsecured rating of TXU
Europe Ltd. ('TXE') to 'BB' from 'BBB-', and lowered the Short-
term rating to 'B' from 'F3'. The Rating Outlook is Negative. TXE
is an indirectly wholly owned subsidiary of TXU Corp. of Dallas,
rated 'BBB'/'F2' with a Stable Rating Outlook.

The downgrade reflects Fitch's assessment of revised cash flow
guidance from TXE, as wholesale conditions in the U.K. market
continue to create an adverse environment for the European
subsidiary's operations. Low wholesale prices, extremely low
price volatility and mild weather have all contributed to a
further decline in upstream profitability during 2002. Lower
wholesale prices for power have not fully benefited TXE's retail
business as a significant portion of TXE's retail load is
satisfied with long-term power purchase agreements with above-
market pricing, part of the high operational gearing which Fitch
has identified in previous reports. Intense competition in the
retail segment and an adverse change in the customer mix saw
sharply lower profits in the retail segment. Thus TXE has
experienced pressure in both upstream and downstream parts of its
merchant energy business in the U.K., which in turn provides the
lion's share of cash flow for the European subsidiary. U.K.
production reduced from 13.0TWh in H1 2001 to 4.5TWh following
plant disposals, but also 'plant-idling' (where TXE was
responding to low market prices). Fitch-calculated EBITDA for H1
2002 fell from GBP321m in H1 2001 to GBP127m in H1 2002.
Significant outflows in working capital further worsened the cash
flow implications of this fall in profitability. The cash outflow
from continuing operations in H1 2002, prior to capex and
acquisitions, amounted to GBP186m, compared to an inflow of
GBP21m in H1 2001.

In July 2002, in response to the deterioration in operating
profitability, Fitch lowered its rating of TXE to 'BBB-' from
'BBB'. The 'BBB-' rating and Stable Outlook at the time were
predicated upon a degree of recovery in cash generation in H2
2002, including improvement in working capital management, and,
critically, a view on parent support. This related in the near-
term to equity injections of up to US$700m by US parent TXU
Corp., to be deployed in contract restructuring or in debt
reduction. Although TXE report that the root of the working
capital management issues has been addressed, new guidance
foresees a further material shortfall over cash generation
expectations, beyond that anticipated in July 2002.

This both impacts the stand-alone evaluation of TXE and the issue
of parental support. As a result of lower cash flows going
forward, Fitch believes that the cash injection requirements of
TXE to maintain a strong U.K. business will now exceed, by a
material amount, the US$700MM already agreed with TXU.
Specifically, TXE's financial ratios have remained outside the
parameters of a stand-alone investment grade rating for the last
three financial years. Interest cover, based on Fitch-calculated
EBITDA, which excludes non-recurring items, non-operational
income, and associate income, as well as unrealized gains from
mark-to-market valuations, has fallen from 1.66x for the
continuing business (excluding distribution) in FY99 to 1.31x in
FY00 and 1.32x in FY01. The figure in H1 2002 stood at 1.19x.
These figures are before (downward) adjustment to reflect the
release of provisions through the income statement on above-
market contracts. EBIT interest cover for continuing operations
in each of these periods was below 1.0x by Fitch's measurements.
Given coverage of interest expense by operating income in the
discontinued operations averaging 3.7x between FY99-FY01, not
only have coverage levels fallen, but they have been weaker for
the higher risk merchant operations on a stand-alone basis than
for the generally lower risk combination of regulated and
unregulated operations.

Headline balance sheet debt at TXE fell to GBP3.0bn at the end of
H1 2002 from GBP3.8bn, following disposals and an equity
injection of GBP351m. Leverage, however, deteriorated following
the fall in cash flow -- a simplified annualisation of EBITDA
would have given debt/EBITDA of over 11.0x at end-June 2002.

Prior Ratings
While these figures are unsustainable on a stand-alone basis at
investment grade or high speculative grade for an issuer with the
business risk profile and income variability of TXE, ratings, as
noted above, were previously supported both by prospective
indications of a recovery in coverages and by significant levels
of parent support. The improvement in coverages was anticipated
through the deleveraging of the balance sheet, improved cost
performance, and, until recently, certain assumptions on growth.
Target figures previously cited by Fitch include debt/EBITDA in
the 4.0x range and interest cover above 3.0x, on Fitch
calculations, required as a complement to parental support and as
a minimum threshold to withstand the volatility of cashflow
experienced by TXE. Based on new forecasts, however, the time
horizon for TXE to approach this range of coverages has now
extended significantly.

At the same time, the quantum of parent support which would be
required to move TXE's financial position towards this profile
has increased significantly above the US$700m currently agreed.
Thus, while TXU has indicated that it views TXE as a key part of
its global business strategy, Fitch believes that support on a
scale now needed to return TXE to a strong financial condition in
the near-term may prove challenging for TXU to provide on
economic grounds. The current ratings do nonetheless incorporate
the expected injection of US$700m from the parent and the
expectation that further support measures will likely be
considered on a case-by-case basis.

Liquidity

Liquidity is also threatened by a number of 'credit rating
triggers', including collateral calls or the requirement to post
security for operational, trading-related and financial
instrument-related obligations. TXE is addressing a number of
these triggers that arise in the event of rating downgrades by
multiple agencies below investment grade. Some of these triggers
may be mitigated by actions being undertaken by TXE, but even a
reduced trigger amount would remain significant in relation to
both TXE's available liquidity and the support currently agreed
to by the parent. TXE currently has a five-year revolving credit
facility of GBP800m, dating from November 2001. At June 30, 2002,
GBP148m of the GBP800m remained undrawn under this facility, and
TXE also held GBP493m of unrestricted cash. The presence of the
above triggers is nonetheless a major contributing factor in the
current Negative Outlook for TXE. Fitch notes that, as at close
of business on Thursday 3 October, 2002, TXE maintained ratings
equivalent to BBB+ from two other rating agencies, one of which
was on the equivalent of Rating Watch Negative, the other of
which carried a negative outlook.

Some comfort can be taken from aggressive action being taken at
TXE to address the lower level of cash generation in the U.K.
business. Contract restructuring is being actively pursued to
reduce TXE's average cost of power, which will assist cash
generation in future years. Action plans to take out operational
and business development costs are being implemented and a review
of further possible asset sales will be undertaken. Against this,
many elements of TXE's revised plans remain subject to
significant execution risk. In addition, successful completion of
these plans would not see TXE return to the target profile
outlined above, in the near-term, without a simultaneous
significant improvement in underlying U.K. wholesale market
conditions. Despite the concerns surrounding British Energy plc
('B-', Rating Watch Negative), Fitch does not regard it as likely
that the nuclear operator will be withdrawing significant
baseload capacity in the near-term. Consequently, while many
other participants in the U.K. market are also currently
experiencing unprecedented financial pain, most participants
equally do not foresee a recovery in forward curves in the near-
term, with most looking to 2005 as perhaps the earliest turning
point.


WORLDCOM: Examiner Gains Court Nod to Tap Kilpatrick as Counsel
---------------------------------------------------------------
Dick Thornburgh, the Examiner appointed in the Chapter 11 cases
of WorldCom Inc., and its debtor-affiliates, sought and obtained
approval from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District
of New York to retain Kirkpatrick & Lockhart LLP as legal counsel
in these Chapter 11 cases, nunc pro tunc to August 6, 2002.

As counsel, Kilpatrick is expected to:

-- take all necessary actions to assist the Examiner in his     
examination;

-- prepare on behalf of the Examiner all reports, pleadings,     
applications and other necessary documents in the discharge of
the Examiner's duties;

-- assist the Examiner in the other tasks that may be directed to
be undertaken by the Court; and

-- perform all other necessary legal services in connection with     
the Case.

The Examiner understands that Kilpatrick will charge its standard
hourly rates for the engagement, which are subject to periodic
adjustments to reflect economic and other conditions.

The current hourly rates for Kilpatrick attorneys and
paraprofessionals range from:

          Partners                  $230 - 600
          Counsel                    150 - 600
          Associates                 130 - 325
          Paraprofessionals           40 - 210

(Worldcom Bankruptcy News, Issue No. 8; Bankruptcy Creditors'
Service, Inc., 609/392-0900)

DebtTraders reports that Worldcom Inc.'s 7.550% bonds due 2004
(WCOM04USR2) are trading between 13 and 13.5 . See
http://www.debttraders.com/price.cfm?dt_sec_ticker=WCOM04USR2for  
real-time bond pricing.


                                    ***********

        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. Kimberly MacAdam,
Larri-Nil Veloso, Ma. Cristina Canson and Jean Claire Dy,
Editors.

Copyright 2002.  All rights reserved.  ISSN 1529-2754.

This material is copyrighted and any commercial use, resale or
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Information contained herein is obtained from sources believed to
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The TCR Europe subscription rate is US$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 US$25 each. For subscription information,
contact Christopher Beard at 240/629-3300.


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