British Telecommunications, the owners of Esat, insisted today its mobile unit flotation was on track despite investors' cool reception to the Orange IPO.
Chief executive Mr Peter Bonfield told reporters he was still confident the float and other restructuring moves would cut BT's debt by about £10 billion sterling by the end of the year.
"The float plus an initial public offering for its stake in Spanish wireless operator Airtel will raise £5 billion or £6 billion," finance director Mr Philip Hampton said on a conference call.
The remainder of the £10 billion sterling will come from disposals - mainly of its Asian businesses outside of Japan.
Plans for the spin-off of Yell, its Yellow Pages business, are shaping up as a demerger of 90 per cent followed by a float of the remaining 10 per cent, the BT executives said.
Reuters