Feb. 2, 2010 -- Cable and Wireless plc will publish prospectuses later today for the demerger and public listing of its two businesses, along with a circular to shareholders seeking their approval at a Court meeting and a General meeting convened for 25 February 2010. The demerger will result in separate public listings for Cable & Wireless Worldwide plc (“Worldwide”) and Cable & Wireless Communications Plc (“Communications”), the new name for Cable & Wireless International (CWI). The demerger is expected to complete and trading to start in the shares of the two companies by the end of March 2010.

Sir Richard Lapthorne, Chairman of Cable and Wireless plc, said:
“Today’s announcement sets out the final steps for the separation of our two businesses and the creation of two strong, well-financed companies with great opportunities ahead of them. Both businesses have clear and distinct strategies and we believe demerger will create further value for shareholders by enabling them to invest directly in Cable & Wireless Communications and Cable & Wireless Worldwide.

“Today, we’ve reconfirmed our intention to pay a 9.50 pence total dividend for 2009/10, set out the intended dividends for 2010/11 at a similar level of 9.50 pence and described our dividend policies beyond then, demonstrating our confidence in the future prospects of both businesses.

“We have now agreed the remaining items for the finalisation of our demerger, paving the way to complete the separation by the end of March. We have agreed with the trustee of our main UK pension scheme the principles on which the scheme will be split between Communications and Worldwide. We appreciate the
trustee’s helpful and constructive approach to our discussions. The financing for Worldwide is complete
and today Communications has launched a US$500 million bond offering as the final step in the overall financing package launched in November last year. Finally, we can confirm that in line with our policy of motivating and retaining our key management to drive for long-term exceptional shareholder returns, the LTIP and other executive incentive schemes will not crystallise as a result of the demerger.

“Turning to the performance of our businesses, they have both made good progress in the third quarter and I’m pleased to reconfirm our EBITDA guidance for 2009/10. In Worldwide, sales of the all-important strategic product set, Data, IP and Hosting have been particularly strong and the anticipated improvement
in project work is showing through with gross margin continuing to grow. In Communications, our business in Panama is performing well, seeing an increase in government enterprise contracts and holding its market share in mobile.

Macau has started to see higher tourist numbers and increasedconstruction work although we don’t expect to see the benefits of this in our business during this financial year. In Monaco & Islands, our businesses are generally performing in line with our expectations and whilst  there have been no signs of an upturn in the Caribbean economies, overall we are satisfied with Communications’ performance.

“Cable & Wireless has a successful history as a provider of telecommunications services around the world. We are now embarking on a new chapter in that story and I am confident that both Worldwide and Communications are in great hands and will continue that distinguished heritage. On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to thank all of our employees and partners around the world for their commitment and support.”

READ MORE