Lucent exchanges $842 million convertibles, debt for stock

New York, April 23 - Lucent Technologies Inc. said it exchanged $842 million of its convertible securities and debt obligations for common stock during the second fiscal quarter ending March 31 and in April so far.

Of the total, $777 million was exchanged for 310 million shares during the second fiscal quarter and $65 million for 38 million shares in April.

The second quarter figure is made up of $345 million of the company's 8% convertible preferred stock, $380 million of its 7.75% trust preferreds and $52 million of other debt obligations, chief financial officer Frank D'Amelio said on the company's earnings conference call.

The April figure is made up of $30 million of the 8% convertible preferreds and $35 million of other debt.

Since the exchanges began in the fourth fiscal quarter, Lucent has reduced its debt by $1.627 billion by issuing 621 million common shares, D'Amelio added.

The total reduction is made up of $924 million of the 8% convertible preferreds, $598 million of the 7.75% trust preferreds and $87 million of straight debt, he said.

Through the exchanges, the Murray Hill, N.J. telecommunications equipment company has cut its annual interest cost by $125 million.

"We will continue to review our capital structure and we will take prudent and appropriate actions if and when necessary," D'Amelio added.

The exchanges will continue on the same basis as those completed to date.

"We have done what I call opportunistic trades," D'Amelio said on the conference call. "We have looked at the opportunities the capital markets have presented to us. In some cases we have executed trades and others we have not.

"Going forward we will continue to do that."

Corning buys back $274 million convertibles

New York, April 23 - Corning Inc. said it bought back $274 million accreted value of its zero-coupon convertible debentures during the first quarter.

The Corning, N.Y. optical fiber and glass company said it bought back $298.5 million principal amount or $231 million accreted value of the convertibles for $189 million in cash through open-market repurchases.

In addition the company issued 6.5 million shares of common stock for convertibles with accreted value of $43 million.

At the end of the first quarter Corning had $1.3 billion accreted value of the convertibles outstanding.

Corning also used $62 million in cash for normal maturities of loans.

Reducing debt will remain a priority for the company going forward, James Flaws, vice chairman and chief financial officer, said in the company's earnings conference call.

"We believe cash will be our primary mechanism to reduce debt" in the future, Flaws added.

He also noted that Corning continues to have full access to its $2 billion line of credit, which is currently unused. The company has no plans to draw on the line, he added.

Nextel buys back $568 million debt, preferreds

New York, April 23 - Nextel Communications, Inc. bought back $568 million of long-term debt and preferred stock during the first quarter, bringing its total retirements over the past year to $3.8 billion.

During the three months ending March 31, Nextel bought back:

* $65 million of its 10.65% senior redeemable discount notes due 2007;

* $154 million of its 9.75% senior serial redeemable discount notes due 2007;

* $79 million of its 9.95% senior serial redeemable discount notes due 2008;

* $26 million of its 12% senior serial redeemable notes due 2008;

* $126 million of its 9.375% senior serial redeemable notes due 2009;

* $15 million of its 5.25% convertible senior notes due 2010;

* $26 million of its 9.5% senior serial redeemable notes due 2011;

* $8 million of its 13% series D exchangeable preferred stock mandatorily redeemable 2009; and

* $69 million of its 11.125% series E exchangeable preferred stock mandatorily redeemable 2010.

The Reston, Va. mobile phone company said it used $570 million of cash for the buybacks, resulting in a $7 million accounting loss.

Nextel also said it may make more repurchases in the future.

As of March 31, Nextel had outstanding:

* $691 million of its 10.65% senior redeemable discount notes due 2007;

* $932 million of its 9.75% senior serial redeemable discount notes due 2007;

* $284 million of its 4.75% convertible senior notes due 2007;

* $1.301 billion of its 9.95% senior serial redeemable discount notes due 2008;

* $271 million of its 12% senior serial redeemable notes due 2008;

* $1.67 billion of its 9.375% senior serial redeemable notes due 2009;

* $607 million of its 5.25% convertible senior notes due 2010;

* $922 million of its 9.5% senior serial redeemable notes due 2011;

* $608 million of its 6% convertible senior notes due 2011;

* $463 million of its 13% series D exchangeable preferred stock mandatorily redeemable 2009;

* $392 million of its 11.125% series E exchangeable preferred stock mandatorily redeemable 2010; and

* $92 million of its zero-coupon convertible preferred stock mandatorily redeemable 2013.

Xerox says nearly all convertibles due 2018 put back

New York, April 23 - Xerox Corp. said "nearly all" its $560 million convertibles due 2018 were put back to the company on April 21.

The Stamford, Conn. copier company paid the put in cash on April 22, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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