ADT refinancing to be announced next month

ADT, the Bermuda-based electronic security and car auctions business, said yesterday it would announce terms of a refinancing before the end of June, writes Tom Stevenson. The heavily indebted company has more than dollars 400m of convertible preference shares to repay next year and is renegotiating dollars 750m of debt with its banks.

The prefs were issued in 1987 with a conversion price into ordinary shares of pounds 19.10. That compares with yesterday's close of 570p, down 5p, suggesting that none of the shares will be converted. The shares can be redeemed at 138 per cent of their face value. A third of the maximum dollars 533m obligation has been repaid.

ADT also announced an 11 per cent increase in first-quarter operating income to dollars 45.9m on sales of dollars 330m, up from dollars 319m. Michael Ashcroft, chairman and chief executive, said: 'The year has started according to plan.' ADT's accounts are in dollars because most of its operations and 80 per cent of its shareholders are in the US.

Electronic security margins improved due to increased use of the North American monitoring network and the division's profits rose from dollars 30m to dollars 32m. The company won a contract to install a closed circuit television system in the World Trade Center after it was damaged by a bomb. Higher car sales in the US and UK helped auction profits to rise from dollars 20m to dollars 22m.