Marconi Back to the future

Marconi’s future is uncertain again. The UK telecoms equipment supplier rose like a Phoenix from the ashes of its debt-for-equity swap in 2003. But it has just missed out on a landmark contract from BT, which has historically provided about a quarter of its annual revenues. This has wiped two-fifths off its market capitalization, a loss of £400m. True, the contract miss won’t plunge Marconi back into financial crisis. The group has been generating cash for two years now and stored up £300m of n...