Enron Corp named a restructuring specialist as interim chief executive on Tuesday who vowed to revive the fallen energy trading giant even though analysts say it is likely to be liquidated.
Stephen Cooper, 55, managing principal of New York-based restructuring firm Zolfo Cooper, was tapped to replace embattled Enron Chairman and Chief Executive Kenneth Lay, who resigned last week under pressure from the creditors' committee of bankrupt Enron.
PHOTO: AFP
Cooper expressed confidence that Enron could be restructured successfully and emerge from bankruptcy.
"The physical assets look to me to be of an enormous advantage here," Cooper said in a voice mail to employees, according to a transcript obtained by Reuters. "The regulated assets -- the pipelines and generating plants -- provide reliable, steady cash flow and returns. And they provide a very sound, fundamental base to restructure around."
Very little remains
Analysts said since Enron sold its energy trading business to Swiss bank UBS Warburg, chances are slim the company can earn enough to dig out from at least US$16.8 billion in debt.
Thousands of workers have lost their jobs since Enron filed the largest bankruptcy in US history on Dec. 2, and many former and current employees have seen the value of Enron shares held in retirement plans become virtually worthless.
The stock, which now trades over the counter after being delisted by the New York Stock Exchange earlier this month, fell to a record low earlier on Tuesday of US$0.09, compared with more than US$90 in August 2000.
Attorneys for a group of former Enron employees said on Tuesday they were asking the US trustee responsible for administering the Enron bankruptcy to appoint an official committee of severed Enron employees.
"The severed employees are at the forefront of a battle likely to rage in the courts and in Congress for a long time," attorney Scott Baena said in a statement. "The severed employees are entitled to full and complete representation in every forum where their fate is being decided."
The group last week filed a class action lawsuit seeking damages from some former Enron top executives and others over their losses in the company's retirement plan.
Despite Enron's stunning fall from America's seventh-largest company to bankruptcy just weeks after saying it overstated earnings dating back to 1997 by almost US$600 million, the chairmen of both the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission told a Senate hearing on Tuesday that no new enforcement powers were needed to police energy markets.
"It is not clear that giving the [FERC] commission additional authority within its current scope would prevent further Enron-like problems," FERC chairman Pat Wood told the committee.
Markets `unscathed'
Lawmakers said that US energy markets were unscathed by the collapse of Enron, which once epitomized the new breed of energy companies as it put together an online trading empire to capitalize on deregulated power markets.
"In the end it's my impression Enron's demise did not have a major impact on short-term energy markets," said Democrat Jeff Bingham of New Mexico, chairman of the Senate Energy Committee.
The top Republican on the Senate energy panel, Frank Murkowski of Alaska, came to a similar conclusion.
"Enron's collapse appears to be a story of lies, of deceit, shoddy accounting, corporate misconduct and cover-up," Murkowski said. "But we can not lose sight of the fact that this is a business failure, not an energy market failure."
Supporters of deregulation fear Enron's bankruptcy will set back legislation to restructure the nation's US$220 billion wholesale electricity market. Such legislation would allow utilities and energy companies to tap a larger market for power, while offering US consumers greater choice and possibly lower electricity bills.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
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At least 35 people were killed and dozens more injured when a man plowed his car into pedestrians exercising around a sports center in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai on Monday night. Footage showing bodies lying on the pavement appeared on social media in the hours after the crash, but had vanished by early Tuesday morning, and local police reported only “injuries.” It took officials nearly 24 hours to reveal that dozens had died — in one of the country’s deadliest incidents in years. China heavily monitors social media platforms, where it is common for words and topics deemed
Typhoon Usagi yesterday had weakened into a tropical storm, but a land warning issued by the Central Weather Administration (CWA) was still in effect in four areas in southern Taiwan. As of 5pm yesterday, Tropical Storm Usagi was over waters 120km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the southernmost tip of Taiwan proper, and was moving north at 9kph, CWA data showed. The storm was expected to veer northeast later yesterday. It had maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126kph, the data showed. The CWA urged residents of Kaohsiung, Pingtung County, Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春) to remain alert to
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