France Telecom jumps on renationalisation talk

Government steps in to remedy share price decline...

France Telecom shares jumped this morning on news that the French government plans to renationalise the company if its market performance fails to improve. Shares rose as much as 27 per cent in early trading but settled down to trade 18.45 per cent up by 09:45(BST). France Telecom has struggled with huge debt and lost 90 per cent of its market value since it was partly privatised two years ago. Shares in the company have fallen 79 per cent since the beginning of the year.