On the heels of a similar situation involving Lucent Technologies Inc., Motorola Inc. late Friday denied published reports that it faces a serious liquidity problem.
“Motorola today is financially sound. Any suggestion or erroneous report that Motorola faces a serious liquidity problem is simply not correct and is not supported by fact,” said Bob Growney, Motorola’s president and chief operating officer. “Our entire management team is highly focused on maintaining a strong balance sheet and improving cash flow. We also have actions well underway to improve our management of working capital.”
Motorola disputed reports that it had $6.4 billion of outstanding commercial paper at the end of last year. In a release, the company said it had cash and cash equivalents of $4.4 billion and $4.1 billion of outstanding commercial paper at the end of this year’s first quarter.
Motorola said that, through Friday, it had more than $4.5 billion in cash and cash equivalents and its outstanding commercial paper had been reduced to $3.1 billion.
Motorola’s denial came after its stock rocketed below $11 per share under massive trading Friday, its lowest level in eight years. Following the company’s release, its stock slowly began crawling up near the end of the day’s trading to close at $11.50 per share.
