The appointment of Binning as chief restructuring officer came Monday as Nortel reported a $2.14 billion loss in its fourth quarter.
"Work is taking place across Nortel to develop a comprehensive plan to restructure Nortel into a more focused, leaner, and more competitive company," said Nortel president and CEO Mike Zafirovski in a statement. "As Nortel continues to work through a complex global restructuring of its business, our focus remains firmly on maintaining high customer service levels for on time delivery, network stability, and responsiveness."
Binning said Nortel expects to deliver a restructuring plan to creditors by April. In the past the company has tried to sell off some of its largest units, but has been unsuccessful due at least in part to the toll the global credit crisis is taking on potential buyers and partners. Last week, the company said it would trim 3,200 jobs from its workforce.
Nortel has been burning through its cash reserves in recent months, although its cash balance at the end of the December quarter was $2.4 billion -- up slightly from $2.3 billion at the end of the third quarter. It will be forced, however, to pay some creditors such as contract manufacturer Flextronics immediate cash while it must wait for end-user customers to pay Nortel.
The company still has several blue-chip customers such as Verizon Business and Telus as well as some advanced technologies like its optical networks products and its Metro Ethernet Networks. But the company said it has chopped R&D spending by 29% to $335 million.
Learn more about all the latest products and technologies at TechWeb's Interop Las Vegas, May 17-21. Join us (registration required).
.svg)
