BT makes a meal of restructuring and Ericsson pulls its handsets arm

This morning's Financial Times leads with news that BT is inviting a select group of investors to a dinner function where they will be encouraged to discuss the company's debt management and restructuring plans.

The dinner, to be held on Monday - before the UK telco announces third quarter results on 8 February - will be attended by major shareholders and BT's chairman, chief executive and finance director. The move is in response to an announced £10bn restructuring plan hoped to cut the company's escalating debt - currently around £30bn. The main topic of discussion is likely to be a partial float of the company's mobile arm... Other news in the FT reports that Ericsson is set to stop manufacturing mobile phone handsets. The Swedish company is currently the third largest manufacturer of handsets but has taken this latest decision in an attempt to stem mounting losses in its consumer products arm. The company will continue with research and development and phones will still use its technology and carry the universally recognised Ericsson brand. Rival manufacturers such as Motorola have already moved to contract out the company's production. Ericsson was expected to be the first company to launch handsets for 3G networks, but delays in the introduction of the new services have become a contributing factor to its withdrawal as well as an overall downturn in growth in the market. The announcement comes ahead of the company's end-of-year results which will be presented later today...