Rescue team moves in at NTL

BARCLAY Knapp, boss of NTL, came close to apologising as he confirmed he had appointed a string of advisers to come up with a plan to rescue the cable giant. 'Personally I'm very humbled by this process,' he said. 'Our team has built a fabulous company, but the absolute level of debt just proved to be too much for us.'

Referring to investors whose shares have dived by 99% over the past two years, he added: 'I do feel for the folks who lost money investing with us and for those who lost jobs as we've had to downsize.'

Credit Suisse First Boston, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley have been hired to advise on restructuring the debt-laden balance sheet.

Shareholders will be massively diluted if lenders are offered fresh equity in return for cancelling some of the group's $18bn (£12.7bn) of debts. Knapp promised an update in the second quarter. The company, which provides cable TV and phone services to three million British customers, had 'sufficient liquidity to approach the recapitalisation process in a considered manner'.

It expects to meet its fourth-quarter target for earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation. The balance sheet revamp would take at least the first half of this year.